Lungi, Kasongha
Project Snapshot
Country: Sierra Leone
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude 8.610283
Longitude -13.172233
Impact:
Total Served: 500
Status: Completed (?)
Completion Date (or estimate): 05/01/2010
Share this Project
The community of Lungi, Kasongha is located in the Port Loko district of Sierra Leone. This well was constructed last year. This year the well only had 12 inches of water in it. The community was getting their water from a river and this water would cause cholera, dysentery, typhoid and malaria. The team added two additional casing and sank them leaving a good amount of water in the well. The pump that was used on the well last year was a used pump and in bad shape. A new afridev was placed in the
well. Most people in the community earn a living through farming and teaching. The community helped out with the project by providing materials, food and security. When the project was complete, the community established a point person to be the caretaker of the well.
Testimony from a community member:
Alusine Conteh, 39 year old farmer spoke with the team about the water needs. “I really appreciate the fact that we now have water again in this well. Well water is much better to drink with a hand pump than drinking from the stream which is filthy. Thank you!”
WATSAN Training:
This community received hygiene training not only from LWI-SL hygiene specialist, Zainab Sesay, but also the students from DC Kasongha Primary School, a school where we have done SSHE and SLTS. This community has been targeted for ODF status with the students leading the way to sensitize them on the importance of good hygiene and sanitation. There were 100 adults and 60 children who attended this hygiene training. 80 ORS spoons were distributed. The people of the community really appreciated the training and said that they were going to put what they learned into practice. This was a very large, challenging hygiene training session. The community appreciated the
hygiene training and were excited about the student participation. The team thought it was fantastic to see the children putting what they learned into practice, sharing
their knowledge with the adults in their community.
Project Photos
Country Details
Sierra Leone
- Population: 9.7 Million
- Lacking clean water: 47%
- Below poverty line: 70%
- Climate: Tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season; winter dry season
- Languages: English, Mende, Temne, Krio
- Ethnic Groups: 20 African ethnic groups 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole (Krio) 10%
- Life Expectancy: 48 years
- Infant Mortality Rate: 155 deaths per 1000 live births
Partner Profile
Living Water International
Nearly 20 years ago, we set out to help the church in North America be the hands and feet of Jesus by serving the poorest of the poor. 600 million people in the world live on less than $2 a day. 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water.
For all practical purposes, these statistics refer to the same people; around the world, communities are trapped in debilitating poverty because they constantly suffer from water-related diseases and parasites, and/or because they spend long stretches of their time carrying water over long distances.
In response to this need, we implement participatory, community-based water solutions in developing countries. Since we started, we’ve completed water projects for 7,000 communities in 26 countries.
It all began in 1990, when a group from Houston, Texas traveled to Kenya and saw the desperate need for clean drinking water. They returned to Houston and founded a 501(c)3 non-profit. The fledgling organization equipped and trained a team of Kenyan drillers, and LWI Kenya began operations the next year under the direction of a national board.
That pattern continues today; we train, consult, and equip local people to implement solutions in their own countries.
Remembering the life-changing nature of that first trip in 1990, we also lead hundreds of volunteers on mission trips each year, working with local communities, under the leadership of nationals, to implement water projects. It’s hard to know which lives are changed more—those “serving” or those “being served.”
Our training programs in shallow well drilling, pump repair, and hygiene education have equipped thousands of volunteers and professionals in the basics of integrated water solutions since 1997.
