A video on the Church News and Events page details what Latter-day Saint Charities has done for some of the seven million people living in Sierra Leone, a small country in the western part of Africa, where many people lack access to clean water.
The long walk to collect water from a lake, stream or river has been shortened for many since Latter-day Saint Charities, along with community members, began building wells and other clean water sources, placing pure, cool water closer to home.
A long and devastating war had previously kept people away from their villages, but with the war now over, they’re being encouraged to return home. A vital part of settling back into these villages is access to clean water.
“Clean water means happiness,” Sierra Leone native Margaret Nana said.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been involved with clean water projects since 2002.
In 2008, the Church began work on an 18-mile-long pipe that will bring clean water to the central African city of Luputa and nearby villages. In 2009, this same pipeline delivered water to the African villages of Tshiabobo, Mafumba, Kasha and Ibola.
Clean water projects are just a portion of the Church’s humanitarian efforts. Humanitarian service may include emergency response to natural disasters, such as an earthquake or a tsunami, or man-made disasters, such as the effects of war and famine. It may also be part of a longer-term effort to meet serious and more entrenched human needs, such as the need to alleviate disease.
