LAYKAI-TA, Bong County – Rural households in Bong County, Liberia, continue to drink from muddy ground holes and tree roots, putting them at daily danger of illness and death in a world where clean water is universally acknowledged as a fundamental human right.
In Laykai-Ta, Wehlee Cooper, a mother of six, remarked, “We drink from the bush. No pipe, no well, and no hand pump. We occasionally take our kids to the Shankpallai clinic in Zota District because the water makes them sick.”
There has never been a working water pump in her village, like many others in rural Liberia. In the dry season, she spends about an hour walking into the jungle to get water from any available source, such as animal-shared ponds, marshy holes, or tree hollows where rainfall has been stored. “According to her, we simply hope the kids don’t have typhoid or runny stomach.”
One town at a time, the water crisis in Laykai-Ta and Gomu is a silent threat to Liberia’s future, reflecting a national emergency. A mere 10% of Liberia’s rural population has access to properly managed drinking water, according to the 2023 UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme.
According to World Bank estimates, two out of three rural families depend on vulnerable supplies such as wetlands, rivers, and hand-dug wells. Only 10% of rural homes have any kind of upgraded toilet facility, and only 17% of Liberians have access to basic sanitation, according to the UNICEF Liberia WASH Monitor.
These numbers represent a public health emergency and are more than just statistics. According to a National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) research, diarrheal illnesses including cholera, dysentery, and typhoid, which continue to be the major causes of mortality for children under five, are frequently caused by contaminated water and inadequate sanitation.
Despite the efforts of a few nonprofit groups, such as UNICEF, WaterAid, and the WASH Consortium of Liberia, coverage is still uneven. The majority of initiatives stop in major cities or clinics, excluding the most isolated villages in Liberia.
Liberia only set aside 0.5 percent of its national budget for water and sanitation in 2022, which is far less than the 3 percent minimum the African Union suggested in the eThekwini Declaration. “The eThekwini Declaration is a commitment made by African governments at the Second African Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfricaSan) in 2008 to improve sanitation and hygiene across the continent. It includes specific pledges related to sanitation and was later endorsed by African Heads of State. The declaration aims to address the sanitation crisis in Africa, where a large percentage of the population lacks access to basic sanitation.”
Laykai-Ta demand rights to clean toilets, healthy water, and the opportunity to live without fear of disease and not opulence.
National and international partners are being encouraged by community leaders to reconsider their approaches to water access and make investments in workable, locally driven solutions. These consist of solar-powered or dug boreholes, rainwater collection systems, compost toilets, or locally constructed latrines, as well as programs that promote hygiene and provide training to enable locals to keep their homes clean and sustainable.
The women of Bong County will keep going into the woods every day until the moment comes, not to find wealth but to get water that won’t harm their children.
Credit: Nukanah Kollie
