by Luc – Antoine Bonte
Two weeks ago, I spent several days visiting rural communities in eastern Sierra Leone as part of the POWER project. In one village we stopped at a hand pump near the centre of the community. The pump had been bolted so it could not be used. It had been broken for some time.
Nearby, women and girls were returning from another water point further away. The path they were using was steep and uneven, with rocks and exposed roots cutting across the slope. Each of them carried a heavy bucket of water balanced on her head, walking carefully in flip-flops along the narrow trail. The midday heat was intense. At one point, I watched a woman trying to steady the bucket on her head as she walked down the slope. Her whole body was trembling from the effort. As she adjusted her balance, some of the water spilled from the bucket.
Moments like this make something very clear: even when a pump stops working, the need for water does not disappear. Someone still has to fetch it.
Our partner organisation, MUWODA, works with rural communities across the district and encounters situations like this regularly. In many villages, wells and hand pumps are already in place. Water committees have been established, and in some areas local technicians have been trained to repair pumps. Yet the service these systems are meant to provide is not reliable. Pumps remain out of use for long periods before repairs happen – if they happen at all.
Our baseline research carried out for the POWER project reflects this reality. It found that more than half of the community pumps assessed were not functioning at the time of the survey, and many breakdowns had remained unresolved for months. When this happens, communities adapt. Households revert to other water sources — streams, wells, or distant pumps. And the responsibility for securing water shifts back to the household, falling overwhelmingly on women and girls.
Baseline data in the district shows that 99 percent of daily water collection is carried out by women and children. Many women reported collecting water five or six times each day. Over the course of a week, this can amount to around fourteen hours spent simply carrying water. This work happens alongside cooking, childcare, farming, washing, managing the household, and sometimes running small trading activities. When infrastructure fails, the additional effort required to compensate for that failure becomes part of women’s already demanding routines.
This pattern is not unique to Sierra Leone. Global data tell a similar story. According to the WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (2023), women and girls collectively spend billions of hours every year collecting water worldwide, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for a significant share of that time.
Who manages the pumps, and who carries the water
In many communities, the people responsible for managing water systems — water committee members, technicians, and decision-makers — are predominantly men. Meanwhile, the people carrying the water every day are almost entirely women. Meanwhile, the people carrying the water every day were almost entirely women.
When the pump breaks, men in the household still receive water. Women absorb the consequences.
This dynamic helps explain why pumps sometimes remain broken for long periods even when communities technically have the capacity to repair them. The system does not completely collapse when infrastructure fails. Instead, it adapts by shifting the burden of the failure onto unpaid labour.
Research on rural water systems across sub-Saharan Africa has long shown similar patterns. Studies synthesised by organisations such as IRC WASH and the World Bank indicate that between one-third and one-half of rural water points are non-functional at any given time, often due not to technical failure but to weak maintenance systems.
Governance alone does not explain the problem. The economic context also plays a crucial role
In many rural communities, household incomes are low and unpredictable. Farming remains the main livelihood, often dependent on seasonal harvests. Under these conditions, mobilising large one-off payments for pump repairs can be difficult.
Maintenance systems therefore tend to be reactive — collecting money only when something breaks rather than building funds for preventive maintenance. Local technicians also face challenges. Without steady demand for their services, maintaining pumps is rarely a reliable livelihood.
Research conducted in Kenema District on climate adaptation and WASH systems — including the participatory study by Aalborg University (2024) — highlights that the resilience of water infrastructure depends not only on technical design but also on local governance, financing mechanisms, and the economic incentives surrounding maintenance.
In other words, the sustainability of water systems is closely linked to local livelihoods.
This insight is shaping the approach of the POWER project implemented with our partner MUWODA. Rather than focusing only on infrastructure, the project looks at the wider system that determines whether water services continue to function over time
Young women are being trained as pump technicians, sanitation entrepreneurs, and service providers in their communities. Alongside technical training, the project supports small businesses linked to hygiene products and sanitation services, while strengthening community governance systems and introducing more predictable contribution mechanisms for pump maintenance.
The idea is simple. If maintaining water infrastructure becomes a viable livelihood, there is a stronger incentive to keep systems working. And if the people who bear the daily responsibility for water also have the technical skills and economic role in maintaining those systems, accountability begins to shift.
Reliable water access ultimately depends not only on infrastructure, but on whether the social, financial, and economic systems around it allow that infrastructure to keep working.
If you would like to learn more about the POWER project and the work being carried out with communities in eastern Sierra Leone, please contact us.
References
- POWER Project Baseline Study – Action on Poverty & MUWODA, 2025 (on request)
- WHO & UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) – Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000-2022 Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: special focus on gender | JMP
- World Bank – Sustaining Rural Water Supply: A Framework for Improving Service Delivery Open Knowledge Repository
- IRC WASH – Arrangements and Costs of Providing Support to Rural Water Service Providers https://www.ircwash.org/resources/arrangements-and-cost-providing-support-rural-water-service-providers
- Aalborg University – Adapting to Climate Change: Participatory WASH Facility and Climate Risk Assessment in Kenema District https://iug.dk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/adapting-to-climate-change.pdf
- UNICEF Sierra Leone – WASH Overviewhttps://www.unicef.org/sierraleone/water-sanitation-and-hygiene