Water and Sanitation, Health Initiative

Sierra Leone faced serious humanitarian crisis during and after the eleven years of civil war, where lives, personal properties and social infrastructures like health facilities, schools and water and sanitation facilities were discriminately destroyed. Water and sanitation facilities in the villages are damnly poor and are grossly inadequate for the settled populations after this war. The estimation of Sierra Leone population access to safe water is less than 34% and to sanitation less than 12%. Sierra Leone is still beset by infectious diseases including tetanus, typhoid and diarrhoea that lead to child deaths. This inadequate access has posed diseases among vulnerable groups like children and women with outbreaks of diarrhoea disease and cholera.

Communities are lack of safe water supply and environmental sanitation facilities. Increased church participation in programme is a paramount issue to achieve the Millennium Development Goal before 2015. Hundreds of wells and hand pumps constructed 5 - 12 years ago are damaged and needs repairs instead of constructing new ones. Chlorination activities of both non-traditional and traditional water sources will be vigorously pursued with the training of well owners and Blue Flag Volunteers to prevent outbreak of diarrhoea diseases.

WOFDA will work in cooperation with NGOs, networks, foundations and volunteers to increase
access to safe drinking water supply in selected communities, schools and Public Health Units in
the rural poor unnoticed; provide access to proper hygiene and sanitation facilities in underserved
communities.

Funds needs will be used on:
Construction materials for wells, submersible pumps, generators and hand-pumps with accessories, equipment and machinery; GI and PVC pipes, fittings and accessories; Capacity Building and training of church hand pump mechanics, Construction of low cost latrines; Chlorine powder, Water Quality Monitoring System and Chlorination; Develop community framework, Technical assistance and consultancies; Operational cost; and Programme support.