Gambia: real lives

Sibanor has a population of more than 4,000 and no clean, accessible water. For many years, only three hand pumps were producing good tasting water for Sibanor and the surrounding villages. From six in the morning until 10 at night, women waited in line for the wells to refill.

To address Sibanor's water problem, the European Development Fund dug a borehole in 1991. Only domestic animals would drink the water, which was brackish and had a bad taste. As a result many families resorted to drinking unsafe, but better tasting water from locally dug, uncovered wells. An additional borehole dug in 2001 encountered the same water quality.

To address this situation, Ding Ding Bantaba Child and Family Support Association and ChildFund Australia's affiliate organisation in The Gambia succeeded in getting a water project grant funded by the World Bank through a Dutch organisation.

The grant provided funding for a water filtration system called a water pyramid. The system uses boreholes and rainwater collection techniques which provide up to 5,000 litres of clean water per day, enough to serve Sibanor and the surrounding villages. The water pyramid also has a component which provides distilled water for hospitals.

During the dry season, solar distillation is used to turn polluted water into clean and distilled drinking water. During the rainy season, the outside of the pyramid is used to collect rainwater. ChildFund in The Gambia and Ding Ding Bantaba Child and Family Association have been working to maintain the water pyramid. The association is selling water containers in the form of a "pick-and-pay" arrangement where people pay 11 cents for a 10 litre container of water.

The revenue collected will be used to cover the daily operating cost of the project. The project has also given three people employment - a manger, operator and watchman/caretaker.