As we meet the need for clean water in Monrovia Central Prison, people encounter the Living Water, Jesus Christ. Though in prison, there is freedom.
Prince still remembers those long weeks in Liberia’s dry season when the inmates at Monrovia Central Prison would have to wait for almost an hour for the prison well’s hand pump to bring water from deep below.
During the rainy season, the well fills and the reservoirs overflow. But in the dry months, they were left with the laborious attempts to draw water by other means.
Prince enjoys the gift of clean water.
As the Samaritan’s Purse team in Liberia began assessing all sorts of needs a few years back in the capital city’s detention facility, a reliable water source topped the list.
In addition to clean water systems, we also provide inmates with training in sanitation and hygiene.
“Water is important of course because it is the source of life,” Prince said. “Without water, we cannot live.”
It’s an obvious truth, and a critical one for the scores of inmates and staff who have few other options if water runs out in the hot, rainless months they face each year.
Prince helps with a well maintenance project, repairing the hand pump.
So we added better hand pumps and electric pumps to the water points, and we engineered a system of reservoirs that are filled by an additional pump system that’s powered by solar energy from rooftop solar panels.
This combination has provided drinking water, but also water for washing and for use in the prison’s clinic, kitchen, and bakery. And if the wells present a problem still, the reservoir system provides a backup source until the water table fills again.
But the work Samaritan’s Purse does in the country’s prisons, including water, sanitation, food, and livelihoods projects, isn’t an end in itself. It’s not just about slaking physical thirst. It’s a means by which we enrich the lives of inmates and officers and point them to the true source of life: the Living Water, Jesus Christ.
Prince found both in the course of our ongoing work.
Useful Skills and Discipleship
We invited Prince to become one of our water system technicians.
Seven years ago, when he first arrived at the prison, he knew nothing about mechanics. He did not understand pressure levels, horsepower, or how water moves from a well into elevated reservoirs and down into the compound. But over time, he stepped into the responsibility of helping maintain the prison’s water system—three pumps that draw water up and send it into tanks that supply the entire facility.
In addition to clean water systems, we also provide inmates with training in sanitation and hygiene.
We trained him in how to maintain and repair each component. We taught him how to monitor the water pressure and troubleshoot problems so he could keep the water flowing. This meant the system could stay running without too much input from outside.
“It’s a great challenge. The water can go low, or a pump can get weak,” he said. “I will take these skills with me upon my release. I will take them with me and make them part of my life.”
Most important though was how God used this work to draw him into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Prince joined our discipleship program led by local pastors who have seen the Gospel provide freedom to men and women living within prison walls.
Water is essential to prison life, including for the preparation of hot meals made with food and supplies provided by Samaritan’s Purse.
Prince signed up for the class and began learning how to read the Bible. As he studied and read, he realized that God was speaking to him through His Word.
“Two years ago, I graduated from the Samaritan’s Purse study,” Prince said. “It was my very first time to read the Word of God. I was so excited.”
Before that, he describes having no peace of mind. Through the program, he says, God began to change him. “I have made a great change,” he said. “I have peace now.”
Part of the water system includes reservoirs where water is distributed and also stored in preparation for dry spells.
During the classes he realized his deeper thirst could not be quenched by even an endless supply of water from the wells in the prison yard. That spiritual need could only be met by Jesus Christ. He repented of his former life and professed faith in the Lord.
As he continues to grow in knowledge, he’s also grown in joy and hope in the midst of his incarceration.
“God has added more to my life. He’s opened my eyes to see all that He is doing,” he said. “He has made me very happy. And one day I can walk in the house of God to tell somebody that it is because of Samaritan’s Purse that I am here today.”
We thank God for what He is doing in Liberia!
