Monrovia – Sara Beysolow-Nyanti has called on Liberians to take ownership and start partnering with organizations for the implementation of projects in their communities.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson-Mbayo, [email protected]
Madam Nyanti, an employee of the United Nations system, said it’s time for organizations to partner with community members to commence projects and ensure that they take charge of those projects.
She spoke over the weekend in Billy Town Community, a rural town in Montserrado County that is expected to get purified drinking water from a drilled, borehole well.
Madam Nyanti, a resident of Brewerville City, said partnership is about relationship and ensuring the power dynamics as equal as possible, including valuing the community.
She also stated that the future of Liberia is bright and hoped that everyone can contribute to the country’s development; adding: “We need one and another.”
The town chief, Varflay Sirleaf, disclosed that there are over 1,500 people living in the town and the shortage of water is also hampering the health condition of the residents.
Sirleaf said many of community members have had diarrhea though none resulted to death. He said there is the need for a well to be dug to save dwellers.
He commended the initiative under the theme ‘social movement for change for the bore well project.’
A change agent Emmanuel Johnson disclosed that they are moving from one community to another to establish the needs of communities.
He said school materials and food items have been donated to two communities specifically Kamara Town and Billy Town.
Johnson a resident of Billy Town said it had been difficult to have access to water.
“We have to cross the road to get water and the school next to us have water but we hardly have access to it, because the administration can’t allow us, so when we did the assessment we found out there was a need for safe drinking water,” he added.
Morris Musa, resident expressed joy over the drilling of the well, “The impact will be more helpful because most of the pumps here have problem; one of them when you pump it, the water doesn’t foam even if you use it on vehicle the vehicle turns white. Only raining season we can have access to the other one pump because the rain will increase the water level.”
He hopes that the bore well will bring big difference, and relief to the community.
The driller Grammarphone Anthony said the drilling of the well is more hygienic as compare to the shovel well.
“The one with the machine is more hygienic and dirt hardly enters, we found out that Liberia do more shovel wells and so we recommend that they do more bole wells and desist from manual construction of pumps.”