Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 423 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Apr 2025

Functionality Status:  Functional

Project Features


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Community Profile

The community of Bundulai, comprising of 423 individuals, faces the daunting challenge of accessing adequate water. The community's primary water source, a well, is often overcrowded and dries up during the dry season, leaving the residents with no choice but to collect water from a nearby stream. However, the water from the stream is contaminated and unfit for human consumption, putting the health and well-being of the community members at risk.

30-year-old trader Adamsay Sesay, pictured below, said, "It is difficult for me to fetch water for domestic use at my house. The well in this community cannot provide water throughout the year. Every one of us in this community depends on this well at that moment. It becomes hard for me to fetch water because of overcrowding and the water shortage. "

"I fetch water from the stream (seen below) when the water well gets overcrowded or dried. This becomes a challenging task for me because it is hard to access the stream. The stream water is only clean in the morning or mid-day when there are fewer people in the town. The stream water would be filthy in the evening when people had gone to launder, bathe, and fetch water. It would be hard for me to fetch clean water from the stream. I will soon start struggling to fetch clean water from the stream after December when everyone in this community is receiving visitors," she added.

The water at the stream is never truly “clean,” but community members refer to it as such when there is not a lot of obvious sediment that causes them the extra work of filtering it or letting it sit and settle. The water from the stream is contaminated. People stand in it, launder their clothes, and bathe there.

If children have to journey to collect water, they often sacrifice crucial learning time and risk their safety. When they collect at the stream, they also fear animal attacks.

"I fetch water from the well along the highway every morning before and after I return home from school. The well is near my house, but sometimes it would be hard for me to fetch water quickly because of the overcrowding at the well," shared 12-year-old Santigie B., pictured below.

"I also fetch water from the stream when it is difficult for me to fetch water from the well and my mother is waiting for water to cook. It is also not easy for me to fetch water from the stream because it would be filthy. I need enough water to launder my school uniforms after school, but I must carry them to the stream for laundering when there is not enough water at my house. I [am] afraid of snakes when going to the stream to either fetch water or launder my clothes. That is why I would go with my friends to the stream," he continued.

The well's rehabilitation will enable people like Adamsay to collect water efficiently. When a well is rehabilitated, we drill down deeper, allowing a more reliable flow of water. Children like Santigie will no longer resort to fetching from the stream, consuming all their time. With a reliable water source, people, young and old, can focus on life-improving tasks, hopefully with time left to rest.

Note: Our proposed water point can only serve 300 people per day. We hope to continue working with this community to identify other water solutions that will ensure all of the people in this community have access to safe and reliable drinking water. 

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

Project Updates


April, 2025: Bundulai Community Well Rehabilitation Complete!

We are excited to share that your donation provided a safe, reliable well at Bundulai 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.

30-year-old Sinnah Janu shared, "Getting enough, safe, and pure drinking water was a huge change for me in this community. Before the completion of this project, I faced numerous challenges to get water, especially in the dry season when the water point goes dry. As a result, I was unable to prepare food for my family on time, and that made them always eat late. More so, the problem of water affected my daily income. I was unable to go to the market to sell my goods on time, and that made me lose customers. Today, I want to thank God for the completed waterpoint. The new waterpoint will solve all the problems I have stated above. It will provide sufficient water that I will use for drinking and cooking purposes. There will be enough water that I will use to practice good hygiene, which will improve my health. My daily income from my farm input will increase. This is because I will go to market on time and sell all my farm outputs to my customers, hence increasing my daily income. Therefore, the new waterpoint will solve all my problems."

Sinnah Kanu at the newly rehabilitated well.

Santigie, 14, said, "Reliable water will positively impact my learning at school. I will have an encouraging exam score compared to the past. I will always go to school on time and have enough time to study my school notes at home. When going to school, I bring safe water that I will use, and I will have no time to go out of the school to fetch water. That will make me focus when my teacher is teaching."

Santigie is pumping 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 Council District. 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, Sinnah and Santigie 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 hand-dug well's original depth and socketed the pipes to install a casing.

Finally, we started to drill! We reached a final depth of 12 meters with water at 4 meters. The team installed the cylinder as far below the water table as possible so that the community has reliable access throughout the year.

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.

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.

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

Community Education

Before conducting 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.

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 Hassanatu Dumbuya was instrumental in reinforcing each lesson.

Nurse Hassanatu led a training session.

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 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.

Ms. Sesay participates in the handwashing training.

"The most interesting topic covered in the hygiene training was 'Good and Bad Hygiene.' It taught me how to take care of myself and the entire community. What is more interesting is what I learned about breastfeeding. The training has helped me to understand that my breasts should always be cleaned before breastfeeding my child. With what I have learned from this training, I will be able to give my child safe breast milk and hence prevent him from sickness," Adamsay shared.

Thank you for making all of this possible!




March, 2025: Exciting Progress in Bundulai Community, Thanks to You!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Adamsay and the entire Bundalai Community. Construction has begun on the well rehabilitation project, bringing them one step closer to having clean, reliable water.

But that's not all—during construction, we’re also providing vital health training. These sessions equip the community with essential hygiene practices, ensuring that the benefits of clean water extend to lasting health improvements.

We’re so grateful for your role in making this possible. Stay tuned for more updates—soon, we’ll be celebrating the arrival of safe water in Bundalai Community!




Project Photos


Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!


Contributors

Project Sponsor - Jonah Development Corp
8 individual donor(s)