Freetown: where clean water and nutrition come together

Infrastructure or water scarcity?

Paradoxically, water itself isn’t scarce in Freetown. Rainfall is abundant and groundwater is available. But the infrastructure to capture, treat and distribute it hasn’t kept pace with the city’s growth.

The city’s water infrastructure was built for around half a million people, while today close to 2 million call it home. As Freetown expanded, informal settlements grew faster than water systems could keep up.

Experts on the ground from World Vision Sierra Leone showed us how our funds are being implemented in the very communities that have grown beyond the reach of existing infrastructure.

Clean water for the community, by the community.

Kissy Shell sits in the eastern part of Freetown, an informal part of the city where water infrastructure hasn’t caught up. Here, a new solar-powered borehole now stands in the middle of daily life, serving the community and it’s market.

Clean water close to home is very welcome where women previously faced gender-based violence while collecting water, and children regularly missed school to participate in this daily chore.

Next to the new borehole, a tap delivers clean water and an adjacent kiosk sells hygiene related products, like sanitary pads, soap, disinfectant alcohol and toothpaste. Small user fees from the water tap and sales from the kiosk fund maintenance of the borehole, replacing charity with a local watereconomy designed to sustain itself.

clean water at school

At WMA School, the impact of water shows up in the small, everyday moments students describe themselves:

Before the borehole was installed, access to water was limited and often came at a cost. “Before, we had to leave the school to go and buy water. We didn’t always have enough, so we couldn’t wash our hands after using the toilet. It wasn’t healthy.”

With only a handful of toilets lacking sufficient water for thousands of students, hygiene was difficult to maintain. “Just imagine a school of 2,000 students with only four bathrooms. Sometimes hundreds of children had to share one. It caused many problems.”

Today, that situation has changed. The difference goes beyond convenience. It directly affects health, attendance, and the ability to learn.

Milk powder for school meals

In Freetown, our focus isn’t only on water but also on nutrition, thanks to the additional support of Made Blue ambassadors Hoogwegt and Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods. At REC Primary School in Upper Jui, we saw what that means for students.

Through Sierra Leone’s national school feeding programme, students receive one meal a day. It’s essential for school attendance but in practice, that meal often consists of rice and beans. Filling, but lacking key nutrients such as calcium.

With support from Hoogwegt and Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods, milk powder is added to the meals. This improves nutritional value and helps children concentrate better in class. It’s a simple intervention, but according to teachers the impact is immediately visible: more energy, better focus, and more active participation.