On Saturday the community of Essau Newtown, Lower Niumi, rejoiced as they witnessed a life changing moment in their lives- the commissioning of a water project courtesy of Rotary Club of Banjul.
This ambitious project, estimated over USD 67,000 is more just pipe and tanks. The 40,000-litre facility with 35 taps affixed, is set to make history for the community when it comes accessing reliable and affordable water supply.
It is also health, time, and dignity returned to mothers, children, and students who for years walked miles for water they could not trust.
That change is worth D5 million and more. In rural communities, water is not a convenience. It is the difference between girls staying in school or fetching water.
Between preventable illness and wellbeing. Between women losing hours each day and women having hours to farm, trade, or rest. Rotary Club President Rohey Karbo was right: women, the custodians of homes, suffer most when taps run dry.
What makes this project stand out are three things the partnership works. The Strategic Water Alliance of Rotary District 7610 and Gainesville-Haymarket, together with Rotary Banjul District 9101, delivered it. No government budget line alone. No single donor. It was a model of international-local collaboration that The Gambia needs more of to close infrastructure gaps.
Secondly, community ownership must now take over. The handover is the beginning and we believe the community will immediately set up a water committee to manage daily operations. That committee cannot be ceremonial. It must collect modest user fees, keep accounts public, maintain the submersible pump, and protect the 35 taps from vandalism.
And thirdly, sustainability is the real key word to look for. A facility fails when spare parts are not bought, when tariffs are not enforced, or when “free water” becomes “broken water” in two years.
This is Rotary’s first water project in Essau, but it should not be the last. North Bank Region is expanding, and demand for safe water will only grow. The model — borehole, storage, multiple taps, local management — is replicable if communities accept the responsibility that comes with it.
To the people of Essau Newtown: this is your facility now. Jealously guard it. Pay the small fees. Report leaks. Protect the pump house. Train youth to do basic maintenance.
Celebrate communities that sustain projects, and intervene early where systems are failing. Water is life, as alluded to by almost all speakers. But life continues only when we maintain what gives it.