Clean drinking water, fewer carbon emissions, more time to earn a living. How 132 safe water boreholes have transformed lives in Sierra Leone.
The brilliant Safe Water project in Sierra Leone has fixed and improved 132 boreholes since 2019, providing drinking water direct to communities.
Previously, people had to boil their water to make it safe from waterborne diseases such as E-coli – which meant burning firewood and coal, causing damage to local environments and releasing thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.
Now, the boreholes supply clean water through village pumps, and community members have been trained to maintain them to prevent future contamination. By preventing carbon emissions, carbon credits are generated. And the project is also doing wonders for gender equality in the communities. The time spent collecting water, traditionally a role carried out by women, has been reduced by almost one third.
of women are using time saved from water collection on education, training or earning a living
reduction in the number of cases of water-borne diseases
people have gained access to safe water
The Safe Water project is Gold Standard certified, run by CO2balance and CODE-SL in Kono, Kenema and Kailahhun Districts, in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone.