A large number of people in Sierra Leone do not have access to safe drinking water. About 2.9 million people are unable to get clean water. Fortunately, youths like Benson Kandeh are not just talking about the problem but solving it. Benson developed a simple pump technology that has been supplying clean and safe water to over 50 rural communities.
We are pleased to have him share with us how his journey has been.Can we meet you?
My name is Benson Kandeh, I am 27 years old from Freetown, Sierra Leone. My hobby is researching. Tell us briefly your childhood experience. I was born and raised in a poor rural community away from the capital city, I started going to school there because my parents were not financially buoyant to send me to the city to attend school. Life In the village was really hard and difficult for me as a young child. However, I knew in my heart that one day I would make life easier for my people. That desire motivated me to study hard and I got a scholarship to move to the city and continue my studies.
What's your educational background?
I have a Bachelors degree in Natural Resources Management and a Masters degree in Water Sanitation and Hygiene from Njala university, Sierra Leone and Emas Wash Self Supply School in Bolivia, South America. I possess different certifications in the field of Water Sanitation and Hygiene. I attended Seven Days Adventist Primary School (SDA) in Kenema and my secondary school education was at the Government Secondary School, Kenema.
Tell us briefly what it feels like to be a citizen of your country
Sierra Leone is a beautiful country. I consider being a citizen of this county a great privilege, also, a big responsibility is bestowed upon the citizens to our motherland a better place. Sierra Leone has several different languages but for one to be able to relate well with others, one must be able to speak the most commonly spoken language, which is the Krio.
What are your contributions towards making your country a better place?
As young man who grew up in a rural village, I went through a lot of constraints with my family and the entire community as a whole. Some of the major problems we had were access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation systems. So I decided to work on a simple pump technology that will solve water problems in deprived rural communities, and train more young people as water technicians in their various communities. I visited all the districts and had meetings with the stakeholders on how to solve their water problems using the self-supply approach. Using this approach, today, we have helped over 50 deprived rural communities to access to safe drinking water as a means of improving lives. In 2019,I consolidated my efforts by formally founding Eco Water, a non-profit organization with the goal of providing safe clean water for rural communities.
What steps did you take to bring your vision to fruition?
When we want to reach a Community, we do three things:
1. We visit the communities to conduct a needs assessment on access to water supply and try to compare the results among assessed communities. Then we select the most vulnerable ones for intervention.
2. We then share the results of our assessment with partners most times on social media in order to get funds to carry out the interventions.
3. During and after the provision of the technology to needy communities, youths are trained on how to continue improving and expanding on the water supply around their communities and sometimes make a living out of it.
What have been your achievements?
All I did was to take a bold step and today over 50 communities have access to safe drinking water and 100 WASH technicians trained in different rural communities. We are currently operating in 12 districts with more on the way. Due to my good work in rural communities, I won a competition as young water professional to attend the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. After I returned from Sweden, I was able to set up a young water professionals organization, Sierra Leone, which helps to bring different young innovators together to solve our water problems using various innovative techniques. Our membership has grown to 30 young water professionals who are developing new ways to improve access to clean water.
What motivated you to do what you are doing?
I want to put an end to women and children walking long distances to fetch water and carrying heavy water containers on their heads when they have to be in school on time. Also, most of the time they take advantage of them on the way. Seeing young people roaming around the street doing nothing and engaging themselves in drug abuse is a reality we can’t put up with any longer. That's why we are training as many as we can to become WASH technicians.
What have been your major challenges since you began your nonprofit?
From the beginning, I knew I wanted to solve a problem but I didn't know how to proceed. I didn’t have a template, funds nor volunteers. It was tough. I started talking and persuading some serious-minded people to join me. I gained more insights into how things work while doing this. Report writing was another major challenge I had. There was also the problem of how to set up an organizational structure. I didn’t have a team nor money to rent an office space, but I was able to overcome these challenges in the end.
How have you been able to raise money to implement your ideas?
I focus more on social media for social good. Also, good people around the world have been supporting my project to facilitate access to safe drinking water for rural communities, regardless of the fact that they have never met me. All they needed was my passion and the output I was showing. Recently we have received funding from Hope Spring Water, Irun, the State Organization, Customers Portfolio Services, USA and Rural Water Supply Network.
Could you share with us one or two experience(s) you have had in the course of your campaign that has impacted on you?
Going to villages was difficult for me because it meant moving away from my comfort zone. During my first visit to a deprived village, I had to spend a night there and I wasn't happy. Well, after the assessment, we had our stakeholders meeting, then we began drilling and water started gushing out. I saw the villagers literally dancing and praising God for water after years of deprivation. I was deeply touched.
What are your prospects in 5 to 10 years?
We plan to reach other African countries. Our is to improve access to safe drinking using affordable, economical and sustainable pump system which relies on the wash self-supply approach. We also intend to train more young persons as WASH( Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) technicians.
What do you think is the major cause of unemployment in Africa, and how can we get over this?
Many people tend to blame the government and I understand that, but we must realize that everyone has the ability and potential to excel as long as we commit to hard work and excellence. There are a lot of problems in Africa today, however, these are opportunities in disguise. Youths should rise to the challenge of finding solutions to these problems.
If you had opportunity to speak to Presidents and Heads of States in Africa, what would be your message.
I would advise them to commit to youth empowerment through skill-based education for national transformation.
Many thanks to our editor: Mr.Miracle Ibeh
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