This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION. 
Location
Gidda, Central River Region, Fulladu West, The Gambia
Community Description
The five villages of Gidda, Demba Kumbel, Sareh-Maudeh, Kusalong, and Sinchu Sambuldu are inhabited primarily by subsistence farmers. Gidda is a community of 455 people located in the Central River Region of the Gambia, south of the South Bank Road. Demba Kumbel is a neighboring village to the east with a population of 108 people. Sareh-Maudeh is a community of 42 people located south of Demba Kumbel and north of Kusalang. Kusalang is a community of 211 people south of Sareh Maudeh. Sinchu Sambuldu is a community of 184 people.
Problem Addressed
In Gidda, all three hand pumps are broken. In Demba Kumbel, the community has two water sources: An open well and a borehole. The open well needs to be covered and a working hand pump installed. In Sareh Maudeh, the village has two wells. However, one has a broken hand pump. Kusalang has two broken hand pumps. In Sinchu Sambuldu, the village well has taken on salination due to the nearby river. The well must be moved. Therefore, a new borehole is needed, including a new hand pump.
Project Description
For Sinchu Sambuldu, the project will begin with the drilling of a 4.5-meter borehole. For each of the nine broken hand pumps, the broken pump is dismantled and replaced with a German PB Mark II hand pump. For each hand pump, the following steps will be followed.
- First, dismantle and remove the broken pump component.
- Construct a new foundation and concrete cover for the pump.
- Supply and install stainless steel cylinder PB Mark II hand pump.
- Remove and replace the new conversion head with the handle.
- Supply and fix non-corrosive check nuts.
- Replace all rod couplings with new stainless steel rod couplings.
- Supply and Fix MPE centralizers.
- Supply and fix the 17-mm chain to the lifting bar.
- After reconnection, place lubricating and preservative gel in between nuts and couplings.
Community Organization
Working Water, The Gambia
Project Impact
1,000 people in seven rural remote villages.
Let Girls Learn
This project will have a great impact on reducing the workload for girls daily traveling long distances from their village to a neighboring village to fetch water before they go to school in the morning. This will enable mothers to allow their daughters to go to school early in the morning without engaging them in other domestic chores. A case study was conducted recently that revealed the mass failure of girls in Gambian schools is caused by parents engaging them in housework before and after they go to school. This severely limits their time to do their homework or other academic studies at home. In Gambian society, the pressure of daily domestic work always falls on female children. This project will relieve that burden.
Project Administration
Mike McConnell, Managing Trustee, GambiaRising, and former Country Director for Peace Corps in The Gambia, and Emily Lundberg, PhD., head of the Working Water program, working with Ebrima Marong.
Monitoring and Maintenance
Upon completion of the project, the Working Water Gambia project coordinator Kebba Sanyang will work with community leaders and the water management committee of the seven villages to ensure that proper mechanisms are in place for the sustainability of the water system. The contractor has offered to train the villagers on the proper use of hand pumps as well as the need to safeguard the system. This will help the communities take good care of the hand pumps to maintain their durability. The selected water committee members will be inspecting the hand pumps routinely to check on proper functioning. A mechanism will be created in which community contributions will be collected and saved for future minor maintenance. The Working Water Gambia team will be in routine contact with the water management committee to ensure everything is functioning optimally and sustainably.
Project Funding
This project has been funded by an anonymous donor.
Gidda
Demba Kumbel
Sareh-Maudeh
Kusalong
Sinchu Sambuldu
Project Conclusion
In Demba Kumbel and Sinchu Sambuldu, new hand pumps were installed. In Sinchu Sambuldu, a new borehole was drilled outside the zone of aquifer salinity. In Gidda, three broken hand pumps were replaced; in Kusalong, two were replaced. In Sinchu Maudeh, one was replaced.
