Integrated WASH/Primary School Construction Project in Kalia Village (an Ebola Devastated Community) One of the worst Ebola affected communities in the entire country is Kalia Village. Kalia Village lies about 20 kilometres east of the Southern Regional/District headquarter town of Bo. The community has a population of about 476, 180 men; 109 women, and 187 children. The community ranks among the most severely hit by the ongoing Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) pandemic that has been ravaging the country since it was first officially recognised in May 2014. As at the last count the community recorded 44 confirmed cases of Ebola. 37 of these died as a direct result of the infection. This works out at 9% of the population of Kalia contracted the disease; 84% of those who contracted the disease died. 7.8% of the total population of Kalia succumbed to the EVD. Six of the seven survivors are female, and the other a seven-year old boy.

The gravity of the EVD on the Kalia community is manifested partly by the number of children directly orphaned by the outbreak. Eighty-two children lost both parents to the disease. Of these 40 are boys, while 42 are girls. Their ages range from three months to 17 years. 69 of these are in Kalia while the remainder (13) have been taken away by relatives to various locations in the country. In addition to these figures, 64 children lost one or the other parent to the EVD. 58 are in Kalia while six have been adopted and taken away. This adds up to 144 the number of children who lost either both parents or one. 127 of these are in Kalia. There are, in addition, 60 children in Kalia with both parents alive, bringing the total number of children in Kalia to 187. (Source: Interviews with the community elders, and head counts by RDA staff of some of the children).

People have largely returned to Kalia. Before the outbreak, Kalia boasted of a Community Primary School. At the height of the Ebola virus pandemic in this village, this school was converted to an Ebola holding centre. Over the period and after the EVD was contained, the only school structure fell into disrepair. Owing to deep rooted fear of contracting the disease again, people would not allow their children to use what is left of the building, even after it had been disinfected. For now a temporary shed of tarpaulin is being used to house the children. Considering that schools will continue this year into the rains, this can be hazardous for the children. Basic essentials such as a water well and a toilet are totally absent in this ‘school’. The children use the bush for a toilet, and drink from the stream. Both of these pose serious health problems, particularly when the heavy rains set in. (Please see attached photographs of the ‘school’-Figs 2-5 Annex 1).

The Kalia community itself has no proper toilet facilities. The people therefore resort to the use of the bush for their toilet needs. An exposed set of two holes, about three feet apart (Please see photograph of the ‘toilet’- attached as Fig. 1 Annex 1), is what goes for a toilet. The village has one water well but the water from this well is not drinkable due to impurities. The community relies on a nearby stream for drinking water. The lack of clean drinking water and proper toilet facilities pose a very severe unhygienic environment, with its attendant health hazards. Little wonder the community was so very severely hit by the EVD. This community needs to be assisted, and very urgently too, to prevent a recurrence of the EVD and an outbreak of other diseases in the future.

Clearly Kalia is a community in dire need of a proper school infrastructure, and water and sanitation facilities. Even in its present state, the Community Primary School, Kalia, has 230 pupils between the ages of 7 and 17, made up 117 boys and 113 girls. The school also serves three other neighbouring villages – Kalia Junction, Bevehun and Missila. The Sierra Leone government Policy on Education stipulates that children must not commute in excess of three kilometres one way to school. The community school in Kalia is playing an invaluable role towards achieving this. The community needs a proper school building with furniture, and a proper toilet. The community itself badly and urgently needs four three-seater ventilated pit latrines (two for women and two for men), and a water well, fitted with hand pump. The direct school beneficiaries are all the 230 pupils currently in the school and future children from Kalia and the affected villages, and the entire 476 people in Kalia will directly benefit from the water and sanitation component.