Rogberay Community once had its own well to serve all 262 people in the community. But for the past three years, the well has failed to provide any water. This means that, for years, Rogberay's people have had to use swamp water for all their uses—but now, following long periods of drought, hotter weather, and overuse, the swamp itself often turns to mud during the dry seasons.
In 2021, the swamp dried out for over a month during a drought. This leaves Rogberay's people worrying about what they will do if their backup water source dwindles away entirely.
"The well is not functioning, so I must fetch water from the swamp," said 26-year-old trader Yakonnie (shown below carrying water). "Fetching water from the swamp is very time-consuming, especially for a trader like me. The road to the source can be very slippery, which can cause me [to] fall, break my rubber bucket or bowl, destroy my slippers (shoes), or even get injured."
While the rainy season replenishes the water supply, it poses its own problems for the swamp, as 15-year-old Fatmata explained.
"During the rainy season, when the water gets full and dirty, I fetch water with leeches, tadpoles, and even frogs [in it]," Fatmata (in the below photo) said. "Sometimes, before I get to the stream, other children have [gotten] there already and fetched the clean water. By the time I will get there, the water will be dirty, and I have no option but to wait until it is clear or fetch the dirty water."
"During the rainy season, the constraints become more eminent," Yakonnie said. "At this time, the water itself is very scarce to drink because when [the] rain comes, all the dirt from the surrounding [area] will be discharged into the swamp, which [makes] the water very dirty and muddy."
The water is already not fit for consumption, but it becomes even more contaminated when it is mistreated.
"People go to the stream to launder or bathe in the water," Fatmata explained. "If they are adults, especially men, I must wait until they are done bathing before I fetch water. And the water will have soap lather all over [it]. I will be carrying soap-lathered water home for drinking or for other house needs. Sometimes dogs, goats, and sheep at the community will drink [or] bathe at the water source."
The difficulty in fetching water means that none of the households in Rogberay are getting enough of it to accomplish everything they need to. People we spoke to said they forego tasks like bathing, cleaning, and laundry for extended periods of time to stretch out their water supply. For people who use water for their livelihoods, which is almost everyone, this means reduced profits.
Yakonnie struggles to get water each morning, which means she is often delayed in cooking the food she offers for trade. By the time she is on the road selling her wares, many of her customers will have bought their meals elsewhere.
Yakonnie explained: "I usually do not get enough sales, which affects me to get less profit, because by the time I start selling, other traders with the same business items will first go to those communities where I usually do trade, so all my customers will not be fortunate to buy my own goods. I even attempt to eat my capital because trading less causes me to get less profit. This is the source of my livelihood."
Without a steady profit, Rogberay's people struggle to afford basic necessities. So when they inevitably get ill from drinking the unsafe water (typhoid and skin rashes were the most commonly reported issues here), they cannot get the required treatment and medication.
When we rehabilitate the broken well in Rogberay, people's health and quality of life should improve drastically.
Here’s what we’re going to do about it:
Well Rehabilitation
The well marked for this overhaul is dry for a few months every year and needs major work to supply adequate, clean water to the community year round. The pump will be removed, and a hand auger will be lowered inside and powered by a drill team. This hand auger will allow the team to drill several meters deeper to hit a sufficient water column that will ensure the well supplies water throughout all seasons.
As the team drills, casing will be installed, transforming the bottom of this hand-dug well into a borehole. PVC piping will connect this lower system directly to the pump, a construction that we know will also improve the quality of water.
Once this plan is implemented, everyone within the community will have access to safe drinking water in both quality and quantity, even through the dry months.
Hygiene and Sanitation Training
There will be hygiene and sanitation training sessions offered for three days in a row.
After our visit, the hygiene and sanitation trainer decided it would be best to teach community members how to build a tippy tap (a hand-washing station built with a jerrycan, string, and sticks). They will use these tippy taps for handwashing demonstrations, and will also teach about other tools like dish racks and the importance of properly penning in animals.
These trainings will also strengthen the water user committee that manages and maintains this well. They enforce proper behavior and report to us whenever they need our help solving a serious problem, like a pump breakdown.
