Gbongay Village, Pejeh Chiefdom, Pujehun

In 2006, we were approached by the village community of Gbongay, asking for help in the provision of water and livelihoods. We assessed the village and discovered an area ravaged by the eleven year civil war, exploited by outsiders and politicians alike, and with a minimal level of infrastructure. Sierra Leone has an abundance of natural resources but despite this, it remains near the bottom of both the Human Development Index and the Human Poverty Index. Behind these shocking figures we found a people willing to help themselves, but without the means to do so.

From an initial survey and village meetings, we discovered that in a community of 750 people, on average one child under the age of five died every six weeks because of non-existent sanitation and polluted water. The request from the community was clear, for effective sanitation and clean water.

We made a commitment to the introduction of new ecosan toilets, wells and rainwater harvesters in Gbongay, and since being inaugurated, not one child has died from intestinal illness.

40% of the village (300 people) have been given the opportunity for a livelihood, in this case beekeeping/honey production. A carpentry workshop has also been built and supported in the village, building hives for the beekeepers and furniture for the village houses, and a small tailor’s shop, repairing villager’s clothes and producing school uniforms for the children.