A legacy of health and hope for Bombali, Sierra Leone by Mohamed Conteh, District Manager for Bombali, ActionAid Sierra Leone

A very kind person left a gift to ActionAid in their Will. This has enabled us to build nine life-saving wells throughout Bombali district in Sierra Leone. 

Bombali District is a very poor area, damaged by conflict and drought. Often, the only water to drink was from streams and rivers that were heavily polluted with sewage and animal remains. This was making people very sick and children died. In some areas, parents would spend hours collecting water from miles away, leaving them little time to grow food.

As for the children; there was another problem. Many were missing school to help carry water. This meant they were missing out on learning things that would help them get jobs in the future. One mother, Ya Makapri Kamara, told me, "We used to climb the hill for drinking water, which was far from the village. The water comes from rocks beneath the hills, but during the dry season it comes out in drops and takes hours to fill one bucket. The time spent to fetch water took much of my day, so I couldn't tend my crops. But it was much worse for my children. At school, they would get thirsty and then they would drink water from a stream, which was brown in colour. Drinking water from here was very risky. It gave them diarrhoea and dysentery. Some of the school children got cholera and died. I was so worried."  

That's why, when ActionAid met with communities to talk about their problems, everyone said that the most important thing for them was having safe, clean water close by.  So first, we worked with the government and communities to decide where to build the wells. They agreed that the best place to locate them was in primary schools, where children could easily reach them during the day. As with all our projects, we involved local people wherever we could, employing them to help with the construction, so they could learn new skills. We made sure men and women were both involved and we showed people how to maintain the wells for the future, so they would be self-sufficient.  In this way, we ensured the wells gave the community many benefits in addition to safe water.

And the best news is that this project has completely transformed the lives of everyone in these nine communities - almost 24,000 people!  For example, there are much fewer children getting diarrhoea, cholera and other water-related diseases now. In every community, people's health is much improved, so that many lives will be saved. Also, more children are attending school and since they don't need to walk miles for water, they don't fall asleep in class from tiredness. This means more children will get the education that will help them build a better future.  

This example of our work shows how we can do something life-changing with your gift to us in your Will. Whether you help the poorest people in the world to get clean water all year round, grow sufficient food for their family, earn a living or even build their own house, you will change many lives.