The Sesebo community in Kabala is the latest beneficiary of the Wata for Welbodi, an initiative by Project 1808 Inc. which provides access to water to deprived communities in Sierra Leone.
“Wata for Welbodi,” Krio for Water for Health Living, is implemented in collaboration with Strides for Africa, a US-based nonprofit.
Kabala is the capital of the northern Koinadugu District, one of the most deprived parts of the country where many of the population lack basic facilities like safe drinking water.
Sesebo Community, located in the center of the town, comprises a population of about 2, 000, whom are all expected to benefit from this project.
Dr Alhaji Umar Njai, Founder and Chief Strategist of Project 1808 Inc. and his team handed the newly constructed hand pump well to community leaders at a small ceremony on Wednesday, June 28.
The well is an improved version of an existing well which had been rendered unsuitable for consumption due to age. As part of this project, it was dug to standard level and a hand pump machine fixed on it for easy access.
Dr Njai explained that the well was constructed in memory of their late mother, Neneh Haja Jenabu Seck, who passed away last year. He recalled at the ceremony how the late matriarch took care of the well to ensure that the community had reliable access to clean water, before her demise.
Njai said as her children, they wanted to maintain her legacy, hence the decision to upgrade its standard. He appealed for the community people to take care of the facility the same way their late mother did.
“We are planning on targeting more communities,” Dr Njai said in a post shared via social media, following the handing over ceremony.
“A healthy and thriving community is at the mission of Project1808 and Strides for Africa,” he added.
Strides for Africa focuses on providing clean water and educational opportunities for rural communities across Africa. It tries to achieve this, in partnership with local organizations, through organizing educational outreach and events that fund sustainable clean water sources or projects providing educational and nutrition access for beneficiary communities.
Strides for Africa currently operates in eight countries in western and eastern part of Africa, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda and Tanzania. The organization says it has funded 30 water projects over the last decade, impacting an estimated 32,000 people in the beneficiary countries across the continent.
In Sierra Leone, the charity began implementing projects since 2016, building and maintaining water access points in three locations now, making the life dependent commodity available to over 8,000 people daily.
All of the charity’s projects in the country are located in Koinadugu, executed in partnership with Project 1808 and another partner called Feeding Mouths Filling Minds, also based in the US.
Between 2016 and 2017, they constructed the first hand dug well in Bilimaia community, their first project in Kabala.
Between 2017 and 2019, the second hand dug well in the Koinadugu College Campus, which is situated in the Badembaia community, was constructed. At 74 feet, that is said to be the deepest known hand dug well in the whole of Sierra Leone, supplying running water to the College and the larger communities.
Mr Lansana Sillah, Project 1808 Coordinator in Kabala, chaired the handing over ceremony of the Sesebo community water well, which was graced by local community leaders. Mr Sillah urged the community leaders to take care of the facility, noting that it’s theirs and that they should endeavor to see it as such.
Mr Mohamed Jalloh, a representative of the residents of Sesebo, praised the benefactors for their gesture to his community and assured them of their commitment to take proper care of the well.
