Action4Schools marks milestone 100th water well built in Sierra Leone

The 100th well built by Action4Schools has been completed and has been paid for by the GBC Open Day, as announced by the charity’s founder Jimmy Bruzon on television.

The new well is located at Omega Outreach Primary School in Newton, Sierra Leone and, as a result, over 500 students together with their families and community members will have fresh clean water for the first time.

Mr Bruzon reflects on the journey where 100 wells have been built in the past ten years thanks to the donations and support Action4Schools gets from locals on the Rock, support that has raised over half a million pounds for their charitable efforts building schools and infrastructure. Half of the money has gone to building wells.

"When we started off doing wells all those ages ago, who could believe it would get to 100?" he said.

“But then, I guess, I can believe that. The more we did wells, the more I came to realise that we were going to get to 100 and then we were going to carry on.”

“Basically, because the charity is very well supported and it's an easy sell, if you want to put it that way. Because it's visual. People see the wells and the impact it is making.”

“That's something that's always been very much in people's minds here in Gibraltar. When I have spoken to people, they've, they said to me ‘Oh, I love your charity and I know where the money is going to’,” he added.

Over the decade, the wells have helped tens of thousands of people. Some wells that were started ten years ago still work today and still provide to the hundreds of people within the community on a daily basis.

"One well, one village, one school, it can touch thousands of lives over a decade and longer" said Mr Bruzon.

Not all wells are still operational, and he estimates it is about 10% that are not.

“This is quite normal because of the water table shift, maybe even water may have been contaminated for a number of environmental reasons.”

“Sometimes wherever there's a well, maybe that school no longer exists too or even the population has moved. There's a number of varied reasons,” he said.

Amidst the celebration for the 100th well, Mr Bruzon stressed the importance of sustained support for future projects, noting the continuous need for more wells and ongoing assistance for schools in Sierra Leone.

He passionately urged for regular commitments, emphasising that small contributions collectively make an immense difference.

“Wish, of course, we could get more and do more. But we have proved that with small amounts from a lot of people, we could do a lot,” said Mr Bruzon.

“For me, the message now is great, we have done 100 wells. This is wonderful. It sounds fantastic. And it's a headline. But what about the 101, 102 and 103?”

“Because there's schools out there that need our help.”

“There's going to be schools out there, unfortunately, and people out there in 10 years time which will still need help.”

“So how are we going to help them? Who is going to put their hands up and into their pockets to say, I am going to contribute 10, 15, 20 pounds, 50 pounds a month, whatever it may be, whatever people can afford,” he added.

Commenting that Gibraltar is a very giving community, he noted that a lot of other charities are asking for money too.

“I appreciate all of that. When we compare what we can do with a tenner in Gibraltar nowadays, and what we can do with a tenner in Sierra Leone or any other country out there, the difference is just so big and the impact of those ten pounds on a monthly basis is so big,” he said.

“There are people out there wanting to make a difference. I'd say to them, you know ‘jump on. It's a great thing to be able to give and not expect anything back’.”

“The feelgood factor of giving, not expecting anything back, and if people want to do that then make a regular commitment because you are going to be creating regular change in people's lives out there.”

“People you don't know, but people you care about, because if we didn't care about them, we wouldn't do anything about it. So we obviously care about other people's suffering,” he added.

Information on how to support and donate towards the charity’s water well projects can be found on the charity’s website http://www.action4schools.gi or via WhatsApp on 57631000

Bank details: Action4schools-Sierra Leone
NatWest
Sort Code 60-60-60
Account 48084352