Help Bring Clean Water to Rural Gambia

Hi everyone! I am an agriculture-based volunteer who has been working in a rural West African village for the past year. Please take the time to read this letter written on behalf of the community I live in for the fundraising of a community borehole. This borehole will improve the overall health, hygiene, and agricultural sustainability of our community.

To whom it may concern,

We, the Village Development Committee of Naimina, are seeking your support as we strive toward improving our health, hygiene, and agricultural opportunities in our rural Gambian village. In order to achieve this goal, we must provide clean and safe water to the people in our community. We are seeking aid in the form of financial assistance to construct a borehole for our village.

The village’s current water situation is unreliable, predominantly unsafe, and unsustainable. Our village is home to approximately 700 residents, all of whom rely on four open wells— all of which do not provide clean water suitable for drinking or bathing. The entirety of the community’s clean water is supplied by a single pipe traveling one and a half kilometers from a neighboring village’s borehole. This pipe, although connected to 10 hand-pumps throughout the village, is not sufficient for all ~700 of our residents to access clean water daily.

Due to the location of the borehole, the neighboring village has priority, causing the water provided to our community to be exhausted early in the day, restricting our only access point to clean water.

We aim to improve the lives of all of our people— children, pregnant and lactating mothers, those who are sick, disabled, and the elderly. By introducing a village based borehole, everyone in our community will have reliable and consistent access to filtered, clean drinking water. This access to water ensures better health and hygiene for our villagers, as well as provides an increased opportunity for agriculture development; by permitting our community members to expand their gardens to combat malnutrition, one of the greatest challenges our community faces.

Once we’ve reached our goal, we will work with a partner organization to hold a training for a select group of village members. This training will provide education for the construction and maintenance of the borehole to increase the capacity and sustainability of the project, as well as allow our village to independently manage the water supply system.

In order to make this life-changing addition a reality, we are seeking the necessary funding for the borehole materials and the professional labor associated with the building of the borehole. We have attempted to gain funding from other sources, such as local area councils and non-profits, but they are unable to support us in this endeavor due to the lack of local infrastructure and capital.

The total amount of funding we need to complete this project is approximately 600,000 Gambian Dalasis (GMD). The borehole materials are estimated to cost 550,000, while the professional labor is expected to amount to 50,000GMD. In US Dollars, this project is estimated to cost around $8,850. These figures were quoted by an accredited local water project company, Water Point.

We are incredibly grateful for your consideration to support us in our effort to strengthen our community, whether it be in the form of monetary donation or otherwise. Thank you for taking the time to read our letter.

Do you want to join us in making a difference? Every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to everyone here.