June, 2022: Yourika Community Well Rehabilitation Complete!
We are excited to share that a safe, reliable water point at Yourika Community in Sierra Leone is now providing clean water to neighboring community members! We also conducted hygiene and sanitation training, which focused on healthy practices such as handwashing and using latrines.
"I am happy for this pump because I will no longer go to the stream again to fetch water," said 13-year-old Aminatu K., who we spoke to when we first visited Yourika. "The stream is far, and the road is not good."
Aminatu splashes water at the well with District Councilor Abu Bakarr Bangura.
"The stream water is also not [as] clean as this pump water," Aminatu continued. "I could not go to the stream alone to fetch water because the area is not safe. There are snakes and other dangerous animals in the bush where the stream is located. I will no longer be afraid of fetching water because [the pump] is located at the middle of this village."
"I got tired after I had finished fetching water from the stream, but I can fetch more water from the pump than the stream," Aminata concluded. "I will now fetch enough water from the pump to help my mother to prepare food and to do other activities at the house. There will now be enough drinking water at the house."
"I am happy today for the good condition of this pump," said Mariama Kamara, 27, who we also interviewed during our first visit to Yourika.
Mariama collects water from the rehabilitated pump.
"[The pump] was not in good working condition," Mariama continued. "It was difficult to fetch water from this pump because the water was not enough to serve everyone in this village. This pump would get dry during a moment like this."
"It was from the stream I fetched water regularly and it was not good for drinking, but I had to drink from it because it was always the only water available. Activities like laundering and bathing were completed at the stream by people in this village. Those activities caused the water [to be] filthy and not good for drinking," said Mariama.
Mariama concluded, "I believe that this pump will help to save me from drinking impure water from the stream. I am confident of the purity of the water from the pump because just after the construction, the water was given a treatment, which I believe will kill everything that would cause me to [be] sick after drinking water from the pump."
Community members celebrate water.
"My business was delayed because of the time I spent to fetch water from [the] stream. Sometimes the stream water level would be low after people had fetched water. I would wait until the water [would] get [to] the level I could fetch [from] and return to my house. This wasted the time I had to get other activities completed," said Mariama.
"Doing all that every day was a huge task and that affected my health. I am happy because of the pump that is now giving me the opportunity to fetch enough water on time. This will make all my duties at home easy," she concluded.
Mariama gives a speech at the pump's dedication ceremony.
We held a dedication ceremony to officially hand over the well to the community members. The community women gathered around the fence of the newly completed well, singing in their local Susu language welcoming the visitors to the community and thanking God for the provision of water. Most of the community members here are Muslim, and according to the community elders, this well will solve the problem of getting access to water in their religious practice and give them the opportunity to pray on time.
Several local dignitaries attended the ceremony, including representatives from the Port Loko District Council, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ward Council. Each official gave a short speech thanking everyone who contributed to the rehabilitation of the water project and reminding everyone to take good care of it. Then, Aminatu and Mariama made statements on their community's behalf. The ceremony concluded with more celebration, singing, and dancing.
Clean Water Restored
The drill team arrived the day before beginning work. They set up camp and unpacked all their tools and supplies to prepare for drilling the next day. The community provided space for the team to store their belongings and meals for the duration of their stay. The following day, the work began.
First, we raised the tripod, the structure we use to hold and maneuver each drilling tool. Next, we measured the well's original depth. We then socketed the pipes and installed a casing.
Finally, we lined up the drill rods and started to drill! We reached a final depth of 19 meters with water at 14 meters. The hand-drill method allowed the team to install the cylinder far below the aquifer so that the community has excellent water access throughout the year.
With drilling complete, we installed screening and a filter pack to keep out debris when the water is pumped. We then cemented an iron rod to the well lining and fixed it with an iron collar at the top.
Next, we bailed the well by hand for three days and flushed it, clearing any debris generated by the drilling process. Finally, we tested the yield to ensure the well would provide clean water with minimal effort at the pump.
Community members assist with the yield test.
As the project neared completion, we built a new cement platform, walls, and drainage system around the well to seal it off from surface-level contaminants. The drainage system helps to redirect runoff and spilled water to help avoid standing water at the well, which can be uncomfortable and unhygienic and a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes.
At last, we installed the pump and conducted a water quality test. The test results showed that this is clean water fit for drinking!
Finished well with handwashing station nearby.
New Knowledge
Before conducting any hygiene training, we called and visited the local water user committee to understand the community’s challenges and lack of sanitation facilities. We shared the findings from our discussions with the committee members to help them make the necessary adjustments before the training began. For example, we identified households without handwashing stations or ones that may need to repair their latrines. With this information, community members worked together to improve hygiene and sanitation at home.
After this preparatory period, we scheduled a time when members from each household using the water point could attend a three-day hygiene and sanitation training. We then dispatched our teams to the agreed-upon location to hold the meeting.
On each day of training, we asked for one participant to attend from each of Yourika's households. We were pleasantly surprised to find more than one person per household attended each of the three days, which demonstrates Yourika's commitment to change.
Training topics covered included handwashing and tippy taps, good and bad hygiene habits, disease transmission and prevention, COVID-19, worms and parasites, dental hygiene, proper care of the well's pump, keeping the water clean, the cost recovery system, dish racks and clotheslines, the importance of toilets, keeping latrines clean, balanced diets, the diarrhea doll, and HIV and AIDS.
The training facilitator shows an illustration of a clothesline in use.
When we discussed using clotheslines to dry clothes, one participant, Foday, told a story of his neighbor, whose family always dries their clothes on the ground. The neighbor picked his shirt up from the ground in the morning and went about his business, not realizing a scorpion had attached itself to his shirt. Needless to say, the man ended up stung by the scorpion, and at the time of the training, he was in the hospital receiving treatment. Other participants clapped for Foday's contribution to the training when he finished. (We hope his neighbor is doing better now!)
Community members discuss posters that show the steps of disease transmission, trying to put them in order.
Another topic that caused a stir was when we covered examples of poor hygiene. One woman, N'mah, told a personal story when we spoke about proper hygiene before and after using the latrine.
"I remember when I was going to the toilet without wearing slippers (shoes) and failing to clean the drainages that are near my house," N'mah said. "As a result, I suffered from terrible sicknesses such as having sores on my feet, terrible stomach pain, etc. Thank God for the hygiene and sanitation training. I believe, if I adhere to [these] health precautionary measures, I will not get sick."
The training facilitator shows examples of poor hygiene.
Morlai Kamara, who was elected as the chairperson of the Water User Committee, was particularly affected by the section where we discussed feeding everyone—especially children—a balanced diet.
"The training was valuable to me because I am now able to understand how important it is to eat food such as chicken, fish, [and] beans that will help me to grow," Morlai said.
"Initially, when my wife prepared a meal, she always gave me everything. The children [would] only receive [a] little. All this has affected them, making my children suffer [from] hunger due to low food intake. Honestly, this training has changed my mentality. The children need protein for them to grow strong and healthy."
A participant demonstrates proper handwashing technique.
"Secondly, the training has helped me understand how important handwashing is," Morlai continued. "As a photographer, when I am going for programs, I always must interact with different people by shaking their hands or touching them. I have ignored handwashing, and this made me have frequent stooling, especially on occasions where I used my hands to eat. Therefore, [the] new knowledge [I] received will help me to practice the act of handwashing."
When an issue arises concerning the well, community members are equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact our field officers to assist them. Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our ongoing monitoring and maintenance program.
Thank you for making all of this possible!
