Suctarr Community 8

July, 2024: Suctarr Community Well Rehabilitation Complete!

We are excited to share that a safe, reliable water point at Suctarr Community in Sierra Leone is now providing clean water to community members! We also conducted hygiene and sanitation training, which focused on healthy practices such as handwashing and using latrines.

Forty-year-old trader Dories Quee shared her hopes for this newly rehabilitated well.

"The new water point will help me to solve the following problems. I will be able to prepare food on time for my family because there is sufficient water in the community, [and] adequate water for cleaning the house and the entire compound. I will be able to fetch sufficient, safe, and drinking water from this new water point. The new water point will make me save more income than before because I used to pay huge amounts of money if I wanted to get sufficient water."

Dories celebrates.

"Reliable water will improve things for me as we all need water every day to take care of ourselves. I always need safe and pure water for drinking purposes. For this reason, clean water will improve my health. Other things water will improve in my life are going to school on time, having enough time to study, and there will be sufficient water for me to launder my school uniform. I will also improve in my academic activities," said 15-year-old Haja when asked what reliable water meant.

Haja.

We held a dedication ceremony to officially hand over the well to the community members. Several local dignitaries, including representatives Osman Fofanah, Isha Kabba, and Councilor Fatmata Akai, attended the ceremony. 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, Dories and Haja made statements on their community's behalf. The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing.

Suctarr community members singing in celebration!

Field Officer Alie Kamara gave us a glimpse into the joyous day. "It’s a joyful, remarkable day for this community as they have access to safe drinking water. As soon as the community members had access to the waterpoint, they were inside the fence of the well and singing, “Today Na We Yone day, Na We Yone tun an Na we Yone Wata (Translated: "Today it is their own day, it's their own turn, and they have their water.) The smile on their faces tells [us] that this community is happy to get access to safe drinking water in their community."

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 15 meters with water at 7 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.

Building the pad.

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.

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.

Installing the pump.

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

New Knowledge

Before conducting 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.

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.

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.

Training.

Training topics covered included handwashing and tippy taps, good and bad hygiene habits, teen pregnancy, worms and parasites, proper dental hygiene, menstrual hygiene, proper care of the well's pump, keeping the water clean, the cost recovery system, the importance of using dish racks and clotheslines, the importance of toilets, keeping latrines clean, balanced diets, the diarrhea doll, and disease transmission and prevention, COVID-19, Ebola, Hepatitis, HIV and AIDS.

Dories, previously quoted, said, "The new ideas I have learned during the training will help me to improve in the hygiene aspect of my life. For instance, I have learned on how to wash my hands properly with clean water and soap. From now onwards I will wash my hands frequently with soap and clean water to prevent disease transmission. I have also learned how to construct a tippy tap. This is one of the easy ways I learned on how to wash my hands. I will also impact this knowledge to those that are not around."

Dories demonstrates proper dental hygiene.

Conclusion

This project required a substantial collaboration between our staff, our in-country teams, and the community members. 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 their local field officers to assist them.

Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program. We walk with each community, problem-solving together when they face challenges with functionality, seasonality, or water quality. Together, all these components help us strive for enduring access to reliable, clean, and safe water for this community.

With your contribution, one more piece has been added to a large puzzle of water projects. In Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, we’re working toward complete coverage. That means reliable, maintained water sources within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. With this in mind, search through our upcoming projects to see which community you can help next!

Thank you for making all of this possible!

June, 2024: Suctarr Community Well Rehabilitation Underway!

The lack of adequate water in the Suctarr 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!