SLMB Primary School, Tombo Bana
Project Snapshot
Country: Sierra Leone
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude 8.619150
Longitude -13.173050
Impact:
Total Served: 400
Status: Completed (?)
Completion Date (or estimate): 03/18/2010
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General Information
The well rehab was at the school located in the Port Loko district of Sierra Leone. There are 400 students at this school, 110 boys and 290 girls. The pump had not been working in more than a year. The pump was badly rusted and the pump cylinder failed. The old pump was removed and a new Afridev pump was replaced. The community was using a river for their water source. Sicknesses encountered from the water source were dysentery, typhoid and malaria. Most people in the community earn a living through farming. The community helped out with the project by providing labor. This community works well together and there is real sense of unity here. When the project was complete, the community established a point person to be the caretaker of the well. Testimony from a community member: Saidu Bangura, 51 year old teacher spoke with the team about the water needs for the school and his community. “I am very happy to have a new hand pump. It has been over a year with no water here. The students go to the stream and the water is not pure. There has been sickness. We’re so thankful for this assistance. Let God bless you”.
Testimony
The school students gathered with the team around the well to pray before beginning the work. The children were taught the creation song and had a really great time singing it. The hygiene trainers made Good News bracelets with the students. The Gospel was presented and the local pastor was present to disciple the new converts. This was such a joyous day at this school. Unfortunately, by the time the well rehab was complete, many of the students had gone home for the day. The headmistress wishes to thank the donor very much for putting an end to their suffering! Tell God
Tenke!! (tell God thank you!).
Hygiene Teaching
The teachers and the students at this school were very thankful for this hygiene training. Their toilets are not really toilets. They are holes in the ground with a tire around it. Not very safe and definitely a source for disease transmission. The team would like to find a donor for toilets for this school. LWI-SL is a partner with UNICEF and in addition to our lessons listed below, menstrual hygiene training was taught to 37 fifth and sixth grade girls.
Project Photos
Sponsors
31 individual donors
F. W. Lang Contracting Inc.
Faith Lutheran Church (Colorado)
Unitarian Church of Indianapolis
Duane & Katrina Weaver
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.
