Published: July 4, 2025
LAYKAI-TA, Bong County — In a world where clean water is widely recognized as a basic human right, rural families in Liberia’s Bong County are still drinking from tree roots and muddy ground holes — risking disease and death daily.
“We drink from the bush,” said Wehlee Cooper, a mother of six in Laykai-Ta. “No well, no hand pump, no pipe. Sometimes we carry our children to the clinic in Shankpallai here in Zota District because the water makes them sick.”
Cooper’s voice trembles with fatigue. Her village — like many others in rural Liberia — has never had access to a functioning water point. During the dry season, she walks nearly an hour into the bush to collect water from whatever source she can find: rainwater trapped in tree hollows, swampy pits, or pools shared with animals.
“We just pray the children don’t get typhoid or running stomach,” she said.
‘Over 100 Children, No Water Point’
In nearby Gomu Village, the situation is no better. Korto Yarkpawolo, a farmer and mother, described a daily routine marked by hardship.
“Even yesterday, I washed one of my big brother, and the water was full of dirt, mosquitoes, and earthworms,” she said. “They say we have over 100 children here, but not even one place to fetch clean water. Even the toilet — we don’t have. We go in the bush.”
The two villages — less than 10 kilometers from major feeder roads — remain off the grid in terms of basic infrastructure. Children often miss school due to waterborne illnesses, and mothers like Cooper and Yarkpawolo juggle farming, caretaking, and constant crisis management.
A National Crisis in Plain Sight
The water crisis in Laykai-Ta and Gomu reflects a nationwide emergency that is quietly threatening Liberia’s future — one village at a time.
According to the 2023 UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme, only 10 percent of Liberia’s rural population has access to safely managed drinking water. The World Bank estimates that two out of every three rural households rely on unprotected sources, including rivers, hand-dug wells, and swamps. The UNICEF Liberia WASH Dashboard reports that just 17 percent of Liberians have access to basic sanitation, and only 10 percent of rural households have any form of improved toilet facility.
These figures are more than statistics — they amount to a public health emergency.
A report by the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) confirmed that unsafe water and poor sanitation are behind recurring outbreaks of diarrheal diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and dysentery — which remain leading causes of death among children under five.
‘We Just Need a Start’
“We’re not asking for plenty,” Yarkpawolo said. “Just give us black plastic to build toilet, some zinc, a bucket — anything to help us keep clean. We will do the rest.”
With no toilets, villagers defecate openly in the bush. Waste runoff contaminates the same water sources they rely on. Soap is scarce, and handwashing stations are non-existent. The result is a toxic cycle of sickness, missed school days, and lost productivity.
“The government talks big about development,” said one village elder. “But water is the first development. You can’t eat education or drink politics.”
A Crisis of Priorities
While some nongovernmental organizations have made efforts — including WaterAid, the WASH Consortium of Liberia, and UNICEF — coverage remains patchy. Most projects end at clinics or main towns, leaving out Liberia’s most remote communities.
In 2022, Liberia allocated just 0.5 percent of its national budget to water and sanitation — far below the 3 percent minimum recommended by the African Union under the eThekwini Declaration.
“There are too many forgotten villages,” said a local Bong County health worker. “And the problem is, the more remote the place, the less likely they are to ever see help.”
A Call for Action
Residents of Gomu and Laykai-Ta aren’t asking for luxuries. They’re pleading for dignity — the right to safe water, a clean toilet, and a chance to live without fear of illness.
Community leaders are calling on national and international partners to revisit their water access strategies and invest in practical, community-led solutions. These include drilled or solar-powered boreholes, rainwater harvesting systems, compost toilets or locally built latrines, along with training and hygiene promotion programs that empower residents to maintain clean and sustainable living conditions.
“Come and see with your own eyes,” Cooper pleaded. “You will feel it. You will know we are suffering.”
Until that happens, the women of Bong County will continue their daily walk into the bush — not in search of prosperity, but for water that won’t kill their children.
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