We’re trekking through rainy Liberia, monitoring projects with one of our local partners, Equip Liberia.

Liberia’s more than 20 years of conflict — the most tumultuous between 1990 and 2004 — have crippled the country’s development. About 1.3 million Liberians still lack access to clean water. It seems that everywhere we go, there are remnants of humanitarian relief, but many of the wells from before or during the war are now broken. That doesn’t stop the communities from using them; when asked about previous water sources, communities usually answer by pointing to an older, broken well, where the community had chopped off the pump’s base and hauled water up the long tunnel with a bucket.

So far, we’ve visited 19 projects, overseen two water and sanitation trainings and eaten our fair share of bananas and pepper soup. Here’s a glimpse of our first three days in Liberia: