Contaminated water is responsible for a variety of waterborne tropical diseases, such as typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery and diarrheal illnesses. Low access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services is affecting the health, survival and development of children in Sierra Leone. Safe drinking water from an improved source makes a major improvement in the health of children and their families.
Like in this video, women and children in most villages carry water from a stream or an open and unsafe water source like this one. They walk long distances to get water for drinking, cooking, and washing. It isn’t surprising that the incidence of water-borne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysenteric diseases is high. This is the water source for Thonkomba village where our next bored well will be installed.
Help Bore a Well in Thonkomba
With a recent donation of $2,500, we’re half way there for the Thonkomba well. Thonkomba is a village of about a thousand people, but others will come from surrounding villages to fetch water. We will contract with John Campbell’s Water 4 organization to drill the well and maintain it for five years. The total cost is $5,300. John has trained Sierra Leonean teams to drill wells using manual boring. It’s demanding work, but John’s entrepreneurial teams have drilled over 300 wells. Watch John and his team in action.
