January, 2025: Katongha Community Well Rehabilitation Complete!

We are excited to share that your donation provided a safe, reliable well at Katongha Community. As a result, community members no longer rely on unsafe water to meet their daily needs. We also conducted hygiene and sanitation training, which focused on healthy practices such as handwashing and using latrines.

37-year-old Isatu Kamara shared how the newly rehabilitated well will impact her life.

"As a businessperson and a stay-at-home spouse, this new well will solve a lot of problems for me. For instance, with sufficient water around me, I will be able to do my household chores early in the morning before going to the market. I will be able to cook [more] on time than before. Before this time, I faced a lot of challenges to get sufficient water. With the help of this new well, I will be able to do all household chores that have to do with water in the shortest possible time. It will also help me to meet my customers on time, and hence, I will have more income from my business."

Isatu Kamara (front).

Ms. Kamara went on to share the joy that is closest to her heart: "Access to safe water is important to any society. This will help my children work on their future hopes and dreams. With easy access to safe and pure drinking water, the dreams of my children will come into reality. They will be able to focus on their schooling activities and thus be able to achieve their dreams."

Children were just as excited as the adults!

Chernor, 12, has high hopes for what this new waterpoint means for his future.

"My learning process will positively be impacted as a result of safe and pure drinking water. I will no longer border myself [stay away from home] to fetch water outside the community when I come back from school. I will also have sufficient time to study, and this will impact my academic activities by improving my grades."

Chernor (front) enjoying clean water.

After construction was complete, we held a dedication ceremony to officially give responsibility of the well to the community members. Several local dignitaries attended the ceremony, including representatives from The Ministry of Water Resources and the Port Loko District Council. Each official gave a short speech thanking everyone who contributed to the rehabilitation of the water project and encouraging everyone to take good care of it. Then, Ms. Kamara and Chernor made statements on their community's behalf. The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing.

Clean Water Restored

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 protected dug well's original depth and socketed the pipes to install a casing.

Finally, we started to drill! We reached a final depth of 10.5 meters with water at 6.6 meters. The team installed the cylinder as far below the water table as possible so that the community has reliable access throughout the year.

Drilling.

With drilling complete, we installed screening and a filter pack to keep out debris when the water is pumped.

Next, we bailed the well and flushed it, clearing any debris generated by the drilling process. Lastly, we tested the water flow to ensure the well would provide clean water with minimal effort at the pump.

Bailing the well.

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 spilled water to help avoid standing water at the well, which is unhygienic and a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Constructing the cement pad.

At last, we installed the pump and conducted a water quality test. The results showed that this was clean water fit for drinking!

The well is complete!

Community Education

Before conducting any hygiene training, we collaborated with the local water user committee to understand the community’s challenges and lack of sanitation facilities. 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 before the training.

Dental hygiene lesson.

After this preparatory period, we scheduled a time when members from each household using the waterpoint could attend a three-day hygiene and sanitation training. We also invited a nurse from the local clinic to help explain some topics and spread awareness about Sierra Leone's free vaccinations for children under five. Nurse Isatu Bangura was instrumental in reinforcing each lesson.

We taught about proper handwashing, personal and menstrual hygiene, and healthy habits such as using latrines and maintaining a balanced diet. We discussed how disease transmission and water hygiene are crucial to community health. We emphasized the importance of maintaining and caring for the well pump and the cost recovery system.

Field officers Julius Sesay and Alimamy Kanu Lamin led the training, which had 111 participants. The training covered many topics that were new to the community and gave participants the tools needed to live healthier lives. One eye-opening topic was disease transmission. One participant told the story of her daughter, who fell violently ill after drinking water that had been left open to contamination outside their home. After this training, she understood how to store their water safely and prevent future water-related illnesses.

Isatu Kanu (left) participating in tippy tap training.

Isatu Kanu, 35, a local businesswoman, learned a lot in the training. She shared, "The training has improved my mindset about hygiene practices. With this training, I am able to know how to wash my hands properly and also how diseases are transmitted from one person to the other. Also, the training has helped me to know the importance of constructing a latrine and a dish rack. The training has taught me different lessons, and I [will] always put those lessons into practice."

Field Officer Lamin felt hopeful for the group. "I feel hopeful for this group because their commitment to the hygiene and sanitation training is great. They made it a point of duty to attend the hygiene training on all three days. With their effort and consistency, I am hopeful for the group because they play a huge role in the training."

Thank you for making all of this possible!

November, 2024: Katongha Community Well Rehabilitation Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Katongha Community costs people time, energy, and health every single day. Clean water scarcity contributes to community instability and diminishes individuals’ personal progress.

But thanks to your recent generosity, things will soon improve here. We are now working to install a reliable water point and improve hygiene standards. We look forward to sharing inspiring news in the near future!