Newton - Virginia well
Project Snapshot
Country: Sierra Leone
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude 8.337133
Longitude -13.002550
Impact:
Total Served: 0
Status: Completed (?)
Completion Date (or estimate): 05/06/2010
Share this Project
The well rehab was at Newton, Catholic farm located in the Koya Rural District. This hand pump was stolen in February 2010. The community had really been struggling with drinking from the dirty swamp. The water was milky white in color. A new Afridev pump was installed much to the delight of the community! Most of the people in the community earn a living through farming and petty trading. The community helped the team with the rehab project by providing labor. When the project was complete, the community established a water committee and a point person to be the caretaker of the well.
Testimony from a community member
Fatmata Turray, 35 year old who sells plassas (greens) in town spoke with the team about the water needs for the school and community. “The well is fine. I don’t feel fine when I drink from the swamp. I get no choice, but now I do get a choice. Tenke, tenke”.
The community prayed with the team prior to the work beginning. They worked alongside the pump repair team. The hygiene was amazing. Such vulnerability, humbleness. We’re so thankful to God that He made it possible for this community to receive a cup of water in Jesus’ name.
Hygiene Training
This is an amputee community. Most of the amputees were off in Freetown begging for money for food to sustain themselves and their family. There were 15 adults and 6 children who attended the training. Fifteen ORS spoons were distributed. During the training, the caretaker of the well was really struggling with runny belly and just not feeling well. At the close of the training, she said, “I confess I am guilty of so many of these hygiene things. I am going to start today to make some changes in my life. We tell God tenke for that!!” Each house has a latrine that was built with the house as part of this housing project.
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.
