Engineers Without Borders - Projects - Sierra Leone

The community of Baoma, Sierra Leone, is located five miles outside the nation's capital of Freetown and has a population of about 600 people. The community has seen rapid growth over the past decade as Freetown grows and more people return to the country, and this growth has strained the region's resources. No electrical grid serves the community, but individuals with generators can use electric lights and electronics.

The majority of the village's drinking water comes from an unprotected spring with significant amounts of fecal coliforms present. The community would like to improve human health and environmental conditions by diverting human waste to latrines, hence the latrine project, described below. The community is rather large and dispersed, so in addition to latrines, the community hopes for a water purification and distribution system.

 

Latrine Project

EWB-PSU is working on a latrine project for the Covenant Preparatory School. The immediate benefit of building a latrine is to divert human waste from the water supply; the long-term benefit lies in emphasizing the importance of sanitation to future community leaders.

Water Project

Many homes in this community lack a clean water source and sanitation facilities. EWB-PSU is currently developing water project solutions to make water safe to drink and more accessible.