The entire community of Mathen lacks a single water source. This forces 292 people to walk into the neighboring town for water every day.
While the walk itself should last only twenty minutes or so, the worst part is what comes after: the wait. Because there aren't enough water sources for everyone in this area, people from several different communities all converge on the local school's well. And what exacerbates this difficult situation is that the well is only open to the public during limited hours so as not to disturb the students' classes. The demand during those times is extremely high.
Meanwhile, Mathen Community's public well sits with no water and a broken pump.
"The present water situation is affecting me every day," said 15-year-old Fatmata K. (shown below carrying water).
"Ever since the main water source got dry, I find it hard to fetch water promptly from the alternate source at the school. The well at the school is highly congested in the morning hours. A large number of people would be there with their containers. I must wait 'til it gets to my turn to fetch water. Due to the long waiting time, I would not be able to complete some of the work at home. I would just rush up to wash the dirty dishes and take my bath before going to school. This affects my time of schooling, making me not to be punctual."
People's desperation to ensure they get their share has caused quarreling between the people who must wait, sometimes for hours, just to fill a bucket with water.
"Fetching water from this source is not easy because of the crowd," said 30-year-old trader Adama Jalloh (shown below fetching water).
"The well will be jam-packed with people, especially in the morning and evening hours. These are the two important times in which water is highly needed in the community. Most times at the well, if a water user goes with ten containers to fetch water. They would not allow the others to fetch until he/she is through. This is really slowing my trade."
A lack of water delays all the tasks that require it, like cooking, cleaning, laundry, and even some livelihoods. This is especially true for Adama, who makes her living processing palm oil.
"The congestion of people at the water point will prevent me to fetch the required amount of water for processing my palm oil," Adama said. "Truly speaking, drums of water [are] needed for this work to be done with ease. Without sufficient water, the work would not be done. That is why I normally lose customers who normally buy from me in large quantities. The customers always give me prior notice that they need 10 or 15 gallons of palm oil. Failing to do so will make them buy palm oil elsewhere. All this has led to less income at home. This situation makes it virtually impossible for me to support my children and to take care of our immediate needs at home."
Fatmata helps her mother in doing the same work, and it is her responsibility to fetch all the water, which is quite the tedious task, especially after a long day at school.
"Sometimes, it takes over twenty minutes to make a single trip to fetch water," Fatmata explained. "The reason for this is due to the congestion of people at the water source. When my mother is producing palm oil, she needs about three hundred liters of water to do the palm production. That burden to fetch water solely depends on me. There [are] times my mother will help me to fetch water, yet it would still be difficult for us because we would not be able to get the required amount of water we need. All this delays the processing of palm oil and other domestic work at home."
Because it's so difficult to get simple everyday things done, the hygiene and sanitation practices in Mathen are suffering.
"[Community members] will return home with partially filled containers of water," said our field officer, Julius.
"This situation makes most of the community people to be unable to launder their dirty clothes. The water they had fetched will only launder a few clothes. Similarly, water difficulties affect women during their menstrual period. Some of the women will not be able to maintain good personal hygiene because of water constraints. Whenever the water is not enough, the women would tend to manage with the little water they have. This will prevent them from doing things the right way. As a result, they would be prone to sickness. Also, cleaning the home and even the latrines is a big challenge in the community because of the difficulties in fetching water."
"I would be so happy if this community could have a functional well that would never get dry," Adama concluded. "This [would] avert all unnecessary suffering for water I used to experience. I would be able to pay attention to my trade and do my work at home with less difficulties."
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.
