Having completed the third classroom at the Westminster Community Secondary School, we had to prioritise what was the most urgent of the remaining items on our to do list. These were: the building of classroom 4, the refurbishment of the water well (which wasn’t currently useable) and fitting a water harvesting system on the toilet block. After discussions between Solomon, my project manager, the staff and community members it was decided that the refurbishment of the water well was the top priority as currently the nearest available clean water is almost half a mile away.
The contractor supplied a quote and started the work on March 25th knowing that I would forward the funds a few days later. The well had not been used for a considerable period of time and as you can see below it had no permanent top on it so there was a large quantity of debris needed removing. They rigged up a pulley system to give the workmen access and to give them a means of extracting all the debris from the base of the well on a bucket and rope system. Having completed the removal of all the debris there was great excitement when they pulled up the first bucket of clean water!
The next task was to form a concrete top for the well which includes an inspection cover to give them access for any future repairs and the also a pipe which houses the pump handle mechanism.
The completion of the well took place on Sunday April 14th, meaning that the entire project took just
3 weeks, which is very impressive when you remember that everything is done manually.
Although the well is situated on the school site it will be available for use by the local community & we estimate that about 300 people will benefit !
A message of thanks from the community
The children who will directly benefit from the water facility are very happy to see this golden opportunity on their door step and they no longer suffer to access pure and clean drinking water from faraway as before. The village headman and all the parents and children of the Kono Town community are expressing their sincere thanks and appreciation for this facility which will not only benefit the children but the entire community at large.
What’s next on the school development programme?
We are planning to fit a basic water harvesting system, including a handwash station, on the toilet block and set up a community garden project which will enable children & their families to grow crops. Finally we will start the building of classroom 4, but this will not happen before the rainy season and still needs complete funding before the work starts.
