Mamankie Community

February, 2026: Mamankie Community Well Rehabilitation Complete!

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

Mariatu Jalloh, a 36-year-old trader, is excited about what the future holds for her children. "The lives of my children will change because of the new waterpoint. They will have safe water that will improve their health, and there will be [an] improvement in their hygiene practices. This will help them be free from diseases. In the aspect of schooling, they will improve in their studies and hence attain a better grade at the end of the academic year."

16-year-old Mariatu, a local student, has high hopes for the impact of clean, reliable water!

As a school-going pupil, having reliable water will improve things. In the first place, I will be able to improve in my studies. This is because I will have enough water that I will use at home and within the school premises. Since there is water in the school, I will be more focused on taking my lesson notes. That will make me get good grades during exams. My health will improve due to the good hygiene I am practicing. I cannot practice good hygiene without having reliable water. So, having reliable water will be a blessing in my life, as all aspects that have to do with water will improve in my life."

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, Ms. Jalloh and Mariatu 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 22 meters with water at 13 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 to clear 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 a 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 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.

We also invited a nurse from the local clinic to explain some topics and raise awareness of Sierra Leone's free vaccinations for children under five. Nurse Ya Alimamy Kamara was instrumental in reinforcing each lesson.

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.

With over a hundred participants in the training sessions, this community made a commitment to improving hygiene and sanitation practices!

Field officer Alimamy Lamin Kanu shared a particularly impactful moment.

"Malaria Parasite was the most interesting topic that triggered more participation. The community health worker facilitated this session. The community people know her well. Their relationship served as a motivation [for] the community to contribute their understanding of malaria during the training. Women, especially, made meaningful contributions by highlighting causes of malaria in their community, such as tall grass, stagnant water in the compound, and using bed nets for fishing instead of using them to prevent malaria. The facilitator emphasized the proper use of bed nets, especially to prevent kids from getting infected with malaria."

Ms. Jalloh helps lead a training session.

Ms. Jalloh shared what impacted her the most in the hygiene and sanitation training. "It has given me the reason for protecting my children from playing barehanded and barefoot. This has always been the way they have been contacting worms and other sicknesses. Until I got this training, I could [not] realize the causes of the sicknesses we have been getting. Keeping my community clean will prevent the spread of diseases. My children will not get sick, and they will be able to attend school and concentrate on their schoolwork. I can work more to take care of my family if I am healthy."

Thank you for making all of this possible!

January, 2026: Exciting Progress in Mamankie Community!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Mariatu and the entire Mamankie Community. Construction has begun on the well 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 the Mamankie Community!