The 520 people of the Katongha Community labor much each day to access adequate water to meet their basic needs. Their well has no hand pump and, more often than not, has run dry because it is overcrowded. Their only other option for water is to travel to a neighboring community's well and wait in long lines there as well. Collecting water is stealing time from community members that they need for other essential daily tasks.
15-year-old Mariatu K., seen below, knows the struggle well. "I am greatly affected by the water situation in my community. This situation is affecting me in performing my work at home. I am always delayed in [tasks] at home since I spend a lot of time at the water point just to fetch water. The reason for the delay at the water point is the high number of water users. Eventually, when it gets to my turn, I barely have enough time to prepare for school."
"I must fetch and transport water to our house even though the distance is far. This is a great challenge since I must do all the household chores before going to school. In this community, we have no school. The nearest school to this community is miles away. Therefore, I end up going to school late," she continued. Seen below is the alternate well they must travel to.
Without access to education, girls like Mariatu don't stand a chance of creating a better future for themselves. Since this community doesn't have a school, Mariatu already has to work twice as hard by traveling to reach the nearest school. Add the burden of waiting for water; life in the Katongha Community is nearly unbearable.
However, long wait lines aren't the only challenge they face. The dry season has a heavy impact on them as well. Mariartu shares more about the water crisis, "The seasonality of the well also affects me. The well gets dry for a long period, precisely from March to October. During such a situation, I find it very difficult to fetch water for my parents. For me to be able to fetch water, I must visit water points in other communities to meet up with the task at home."
"My parents do not even care [about] the pains I undergo. They will scold me if I fail to fulfill my duties. There are times I was not able to fetch water from other communities. My parents will refer me to other areas to fetch water. This affects me, especially when we have exams in school. I get limited time to study. All my energy is used to fetch and transport water to the house," Mariatu concluded.
Mariatu isn't the only child who faces these challenges on a daily basis. The children of this community bear heavy burdens that shouldn't rest on their shoulders.
38-year-old farmer Kadiatu Kamara, seen below at the alternative well, shared her experience as well. "The water situation in the community is affecting my daily activities. I need a lot of water for the day's work. I need water for cooking, laundering, drinking, etc. It is difficult to get enough water in this community to do all of this because our main source is no longer functioning."
Not only is this crisis stealing time that could be spent on life-improving activities, but it also steals their health.
"Water is a prime necessity of life. It can only be enjoyed when it is safe to drink. That is why it is necessary for the water to be free from all forms of contamination. Unfortunately, the main and the alternate sources of fetching water in this community are prone to contamination. Children and adults have symptoms of frequent stooling, terrible stomach pain, etc. Likewise, the congestion of people at the alternate water point has led to the transmission of airborne diseases like Tuberculosis," said field officer Julius Sesay.
Rehabilitating the Katongha Community well will breathe life back into this community that currently is heavily burdened. Water will enable children like Mariatu to prioritize more time for their educations, hopefully allowing them to follow their dreams and adults like Kadiatu to complete their daily tasks and care for their families efficiently.
The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...
At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.
In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.
Water Access for Everyone
This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we're working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!
Training on Health, Hygiene & More
With the community's input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We'll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:
- Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
- Safe water handling, storage & treatment
- Disease prevention and proper handwashing
- Income-generation
- Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
- Operation and maintenance of the water point
