Water, Health & Women's Empowerment- Guinea Bissau

On behalf of WellFound’s Board of Trustees and staff, we want to express our deepest gratitude for your continued support of our work in rural Guinea Bissau. Donors like you deserve credit for so much of the amazing work which we accomplished in 2018. It has truly changed lives but what sort of change did you help make a reality in 2018? On a recent trip to Guinea Bissau, WellFound’s Chair and Trustee, David, visited to check up on the progress of the project first hand and see how the villages have changed over the past year.

Eticunda: This is a newer village where we started work in 2018. Eticunda now has a working solar water pump system with high quality, clean and safe water. This alone is a huge achievement and will contribute to drastically decreasing illnesses resulting from contaminated water. The village has also completed a CLTS (Community Led Total Sanitation) programme. This means that members of the community got together and collaboratively planned and built latrines for everybody to use, saving them from having to go to the toilet outside in the bush where there are serious risks from a number of health issues and infections as well as snake and insect bites. People can now use the toilet is a safe and clean environment in privacy. David and our staff were pleased to arrive at the village and receive a reception of singers, dancers and excited children.

Government officials from the Ministry of Resources who had visited the village recently joined our team and were happy to announce that Eticunda is now officially an ODF (Open defecation free) village. This a huge step forward and badge of honour for members of the community as well as WellFound and you, our donors.  David and the team were pleased to be invited to participate in a ceremony in the centre of the village. Speeches were made by Hertumisa, Joao and David, and then by two government officials from the Ministry of Resources. Finally, two speeches from representatives of the village who thanked WellFound and everyone who had made this possible. They promised to look after the facilities and said they would not forget WellFound.

Acuminca: Another new village with a new and fully functioning solar pump to bring clean water for drinking, washing, and cooking to everybody in the community. David was also happy to see that the area for the women-run market garden is ready to start farming nutritious vegetables and that the plots are protected from livestock and other animals with good strong fencing; this is an ongoing issue across Africa and if animals manage to enter the market garden plots they can devastate crops and undo months of hard work. The fact that the villagers have got good, strong and durable fencing is an excellent sign that their plots will be safe and ultimately malnutrition arising from lack of access to a varied diet, will be curbed. Another sign that Acuminca is on a path to improved health and hygiene is that the CLTS programme has been completed. Once again, David and the team were welcomed and joined in with a similar ceremony to that in Eticunda. The government officials made the declaration of ODF. The villagers expressed their thanks to WellFound.

Anipoco: This is the third of WellFound’s new villages on the island of Caravela. The well borehole and solar system is working well, bringing safe water to those who need it; the CLTS programme is complete; and the market garden is cleared. This marks another victory for the community members and WellFound’s staff who have been working tirelessly on these remote islands.

David, Joao and Hertumisa took part in yet another ODF declaration ceremony, with government officials giving Anipoco the ODF certification, something which everybody present was immensely proud of but none more so than the residents themselves. Their lives have been truly changed and they were sure to make this known to our team.

Etighaore: Yet another success! This was the village where one of WellFound’s trustee’s Gill had taken the troubling picture when she visited in March, of the green water which villages had no choice but to use for drinking, cooking and cleaning, and had to share with animals. Happily, David was able to take a photo of the current situation. Not only is their new well fully functioning and bringing clean water, but now the villagers have a safe water storage tank. This ensures that the community will have access to clean water in the dry season, when water levels get dangerously low. The villagers are very happy. In his speech the chief of the village said he was a big man, but he had been begging for clean water. Yet again we were thrilled to participate in the government-approved ODF declaration ceremony.

The progress which has been made in this village can be summed up in two pictures. The first which shows where the villagers used to source their water before WellFound started work in the area; now you can see happy residents showing off their water storage tank and clean water tap!

All in all, we are thrilled to have David report such fantastic progress in these remote and often forgotten about island communities. As ever our staff have been working incredibly hard and we must thank you, our donors for all that you have helped to achieve. It has not been without its challenges and despite taking huge steps forward, we are not yet breathing a sigh of relief as there is plenty more work to be done before we can be satisfied that the residents of Anopoco, Eticunda, Acuminca, Etinghoure and Ancano are living safely, without the threats of water-borne illnesses, malnutrition, in communities where both men and women are equal and parents do not need to worry about their children surviving to see their next birthday’s. We must not forget that for millions of people, day to day life is not always easy and that many still do not have access to the most basic of resources. With the help of donors like you, the continued hard work of WellFound staff and the residents of the villages where we work, we can make a difference. Together we can change, and ultimately save, lives.