COMPLETED: Hand pump for Tulun, Sierra Leone

The situation:

In Tulun, near Lungi Airport in Sierra Leone, estimated 2,000 people are fetching water from the same stream. During the dry season the water level in the stream is so low, that only a few people at a time can fill their buckets, forcing the majority to sit and wait for hours for their turn. For the schoolchildren in the community this means that they have to get up 2 hours prior to school, to sit and wait for their share of water for the day, often it drags out and causes the students to meet late and skip education in the morning hours. An additional problem is pollution by human waste in and around the stream.

The solution:

For 2,200 US$ a local entrepreneur will drill a borehole and install a hand pump at the local mosque, next to the school. The mosque and school children will have first priority to use the pump, which will elsewise be free to use for the rest of the community as well. It is estimated that the pump will be of daily usage to about 1,000 people, halving the waiting time at the stream for additional 1,000 people.