Bundulai Community 5

The Bundulai Community's 124 residents have long struggled with water scarcity, especially during the dry season. Though a hand-dug well was converted into a borehole in 2024, the new water point still runs low or completely dry for months at a time. Although the newly rehabilitated borehole provides clean, chlorinated water when it is flowing, its seasonality continues to drive residents back to unsafe alternatives. Because of this, community members—especially women and children—walk long distances to the nearest alternative source: a swamp scoop hole along the Port Loko Road.

The distances are long and the paths bushy. Community members cross the busy road, navigate slippery footpaths, and walk through thick vegetation, all while carrying heavy containers of water. Snakes, traffic, and physical exhaustion are daily risks.

In this reality, children bear a heavy burden—physically, emotionally, and academically. One of those children is 15-year-old Yabom, whose story is the daily struggle of many young people in Bundulai.

Every morning, long before she can think about school, Yabom must first think about water.

The community borehole often runs dry, especially in the dry season, forcing her to walk to the swamp. “The water well in the community gets dry, and this leads me to fetch water from the swamp. It has a footpath, and it is difficult to walk on, and [so]I must take time to walk on the road. It is a far walking distance to reach the water source.”

Once she arrives, the water is murky and disturbed from others who have fetched before her. “Sometimes when I reach the water well, I must wait for the water to [get] clean before I fetch water. Sometimes I will not be able to carry the rubber bucket on my head, so I must wait for someone to assist me, and this will cause me to delay at the water source,” said Yabom.

What should be a simple household task becomes a four-hour ordeal each day. She explains, “All this causes me to spend hours before completely fetching water at home. I will be very happy if they construct [a] water well in the community.”

For a student like Yabom, time is everything. She attends DEC Primary School Bundulai, but water collection often conflicts with her education.

“I find it difficult to manage time so that I will complete the work I have to [get] done per day. I must go to school from Monday to Friday. Sometimes the pressure [of] fetching water at home causes me to be late for school or even causes me not to go to school a day, especially when my parents have a lot to do at the farm.”

Yabom carries a heavy bucket of water home.

Water steals her childhood. “Fetching water impacts time at school. Spending more than four hours each day will not allow me to study or even go to school on time. Sometimes I will not go to school for a day due to work.”

Despite these challenges, she dreams big. “I want to become a nurse so that I can educate my people and serve the community. I will be happy if we have [a] well in the community so that I will be able to achieve my dream of becoming a nurse.”

Yet each day, that dream competes with the immediate burden of survival.

When asked how she feels about being sent to fetch water, her answer is honest and raw: “Sometimes when my parents send me to fetch water, I feel bad. The distance to the water well is very far, and I must walk long distances for water. The road is bushy, and I am afraid of snakes.”

In Bundulai, water is not just a physical burden—it is an emotional and psychological one, especially for children who fear for their safety with every trip.

While children endure the long walks and risks, adults struggle too. The scarcity affects farming schedules, worship at the mosque, household chores, and overall community productivity. With only 25% of residents able to access water within a 30-minute round-trip, the burden is considerable.

The swamp water is visibly unsafe—green algae, sludge, leaves, tadpoles, frogs, and worms fill the open scoop hole. During the rains, wastewater and trash wash into the source. It is not fit for human consumption, yet during the driest months, it is the only available option.

A new borehole here would not only bring clean water—it would bring back time, safety, opportunity, and hope.

For Yabom, the impact would be life-changing: the chance to attend school consistently, study for her exams, and pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.

Yabom does laundry.

Bundulai’s story is a powerful reminder that water scarcity is more than an inconvenience—it shapes childhoods, limits futures, and affects every corner of community life. Through Yabom’s voice, we hear the truth of what it means to grow up without reliable access to safe water. Her determination to continue dreaming, even while facing long, risky walks each day, shows both the urgency of the crisis and the resilience of the community.

Steps Toward a Solution

Returning to a community where we previously implemented a water project is not just a matter of maintenance; it stays true to our commitment to sustainability. Our technical experts collaborated with the local community to identify their current needs and subsequently decided to drill a new borehole after conducting hydrosurveys to determine the optimal location, which will yield a lasting project.

Reinvestment
While the original project provided critical access to safe water, factors such as changing environmental conditions, population growth, and infrastructure wear have put that access at risk. Reinvesting in this community by rehabilitating their well ensures that progress is not lost and that the community continues to thrive with reliable, clean water. We are committed to supporting lasting, reliable solutions that honor the trust placed in us by the people who depend on this essential resource every day.

Rehabilitating a Well
Abundant water often lies just beneath our feet. Aquifers—natural underground rivers—flow through layers of sediment and rock, offering a constant supply of safe water.

The well marked for this overhaul is dry for several months a year and needs major work to supply adequate, clean water to the community year-round. A hand auger will be lowered inside the well, powered by a drill team. The team will work to drill several meters deeper to hit a sufficient water column to ensure the well supplies water throughout all seasons. As the team drills, the casing will be installed, transforming the bottom of this well into a borehole. PVC piping will connect this lower system directly to the pump, a component we know will also improve water quality. Finally, we will reconstruct the platform for the well and attach the hand pump.

Once this plan is implemented, the community will once again have access to safe drinking water in quality and quantity.

Community Education & Ownership
Hygiene and sanitation training are integral to our water projects. Safe water and improved hygiene habits foster a healthier future for everyone in the community. Since it has been several years since this community last engaged with training, we will hold a refresher training tailored to the community's specific needs.

Project Updates

October, 2026: Bundulai Community Well Rehabilitation Complete!

We are excited to share that your donation provided a safe, reliable well in the 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.

"Now I have this new water point right in the community, and my children and I have access easily. It is a short walking distance. My children will not walk long distances for water anymore. This makes a difference for them, and they have more time for school and studies," shared 31-year-old Adama Kargbo.

Ms. Kargbo.

15-year-old Yabom is excited for the future of her community with access to clean water.

"I want to say thanks for providing this new water well in the community. I’m glad for this water well; the water is clean, and it has enough water. This will help me improve things that I was facing before, like walking long distances for water, crossing the Port Loko road, and [being] exposed to accidents. [The] problem of waterborne sicknesses like diarrhea, cholera, etc. Today, I have access to clean and safe water to drink, and this will help me to get healthy [and] sound, and all the problems with water are over."

Yabom at the well.

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, Adama and Yabom 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.

Drilling begins!

Finally, we started to drill! We reached a final depth of 21 meters with water at 18.5 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.

Building the new platform.

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.

Installing the pump.

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 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.

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. Kargbo, previously quoted, shared her experience in the training sessions. "This training will bring long-term benefit if I continue to implement the action points from all the topics we have discussed. It will add value to my community that will attract visitors. Keeping the community always clean can prevent us from getting sick. Building latrines, digging rubbish pits, and constructing tippy taps near my latrine to wash hands after using the facility will greatly help us as a community to live a healthy life. I will make sure to provide a container for my kids to use anytime they need to defecate and empty it in the latrine. I cannot allow any of them to walk barefoot because they can be infected with worms through that."

Ms. Kargbo helps teach the dental hygiene lesson.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

August, 2026: Exciting Progress in Bundulai Community!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Yabom and the entire Bundulai 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 the Bundulai Community!