Lungi, Mayaya
Project Snapshot
Country: Sierra Leone
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude 8.675100
Longitude -13.242250
Impact:
Total Served: 1000
Status: Completed (?)
Completion Date (or estimate): 02/18/2010
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General Information:
The well rehab was at the central mosque located in Lungi, Mayaya which is in the Port Loko district of Sierra Leone. The well was constructed by Oxfam in 1998. It had been spoiled for 7 months. The community was drinking from the swamp. Sicknesses encountered from the water source were dysentery, typhoid and malaria. The old pump was pulled. The cylinder had fallen apart and some of the pipes and sucker rods were rusted together. A new afridev was installed. There was such joy in the community that this well was rehabilitated. Most people in the community earn a living through selling
fishing, agriculture and petty trading. 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:
Mariatu Dumbuya, female farmer spoke with the team about the water needs for her community. “I gladdy, gladdy (I’m very happy). There is no comparison between the swamp and this. This water from the well is so much better for us than drinking from the swamp and it’s so much closer. Moe- moe (thank you)!”
Hygiene Teaching:
It was an incredible hygiene training. While the hygiene girls were behind one of the houses with the ladies, I had a great conversation with about 12 men about their community, hygiene and building native toilets. The sensitizing about feces, flies and rice was eye opening for them. After showing them that, they had many questions about the native toilets. We will do follow up with this community to help them work towards ODF (open defecation free) status. The community was able to be honest about their hygiene practices and come to some very frank decisions. We will continue to work with them, encouraging where needed. There were 53 adults and 60 children who
attended this training.
Project Photos
Sponsors
30 individual donors
Christian Challenge
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
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.
