Rehabilitation Project
This project was implemented by another partner, but is now monitored and maintained by The Water Project together with Mariatu's Hope.
When the Sierra Leone team arrived, 34 families/ 200 community members were dependent on an unprotected spring located .3 of a kilometer away from the community and that would go dry during the dry season. Because of this, families were suffering from typhoid, malaria, diarrhea and severe dehydration. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a water committee consisting of five men and five women who assisted the team with the water project whenever possible, provided any materials they had available and guarded the team’s equipment during the night. This water committee is also responsible for collecting a well maintenance fee of .02 Ugandan Shillings per 20 liter jerrican of water collected. Most residents farm or petty trade to earn a living. When the team arrived, the pump on the community's old well was broken. The casing was badly damaged. The pipes, rods and cylinder were damaged. The team removed the old pump, constructed four new casing, and repaired the lining of the well and installed a new Afridev hand pump and completed the cement work. One girl by the name of Fatmata Turay was trained at Mamankie Village during one of the sanitation project hygiene trainings. She was taking the lead to teach the community how to build tippy taps with the community people. She taught them how to properly wash their hands with soap and water or ash to prevent them from disease. This was so encouraging and exciting to see how the training from one village came to another and the community people working to empower each other with the lessons they learned. God is so good!
The Sierra Leone team had an opportunity to meet with thirty year old community member and gardener, Aminata Kamara, who stated, "The old water source is too far from the community. The water runs from up a hill to the swamp. The community people connected the pipe to gather the water so they can be able to fetch the water. The new water source is very close to the community and we have enough water from the new water point."
The hygiene training was conducted by the Child Health Club at the Kankalay Islamic Primary and Secondary School. There were 20 adults and 15 children who attended the training. 20 ORS spoons were distributed. The training made an impact on the lives of the people, especially making the tippy taps. All community members made two tippy taps for their homes. They said they will hang one in their kitchen and one in their latrine area. This tippy tap training was done at a different time than the initial hygiene training and was done with the help of community members who had attended trainings in other communities. It was so wonderful. The people in the community were very much welcoming during the training. They brought their own rubbers to make their tippy taps and really cooperated well with the trainers. It is a well-organized community. The Head man put down some ground rules about hanging the tippy taps at their homes. He said if people didn't use the tippy taps at their homes they would impose fines. Since this is a new WASH committee set up at this well, no money had been collected. The committee has been instructed that they will need to impose a fee for water so when the pump has problems they can repair it themselves.
