This project has been completed under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Myles Shuler. To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
The project was to build 3 rainwater catchments and storage systems to provide clean water for unserved households in the community.
Myles reports:
Milla 7 ½ is a town that is located in the Province of Bocas del Toro in Panama. The community is composed of 400 Ngobe Indians and is located on the edge of San Pon Sak National Park. The Park is a mangrove forest and the town is at sea level. Due to this proximity to the ocean and the low elevation there is a serious shortage of water. The shortage is due to the fact that underground water sources are saline. With the help of Appropriate Projects, I helped to provide rain water catch tanks for a couple families and ensure that they have drinking water that is clean.
The project was to buy three rain water tanks and systems for three of the needy families in the community. I worked for three separate days with each family to build a table for the tank and connect the PVC to the roof in order to capture the high amounts of rain that fall in the Bocas del Toro province. These three families had 8 people, 15 people, and 5 people living within the house. In total we were able to help 28 people with clean water.
Included in the construction of these rain water tanks was some education on how to keep the tanks clean and also how to conserve water. The hope for these tanks was to reduce the incidences of stomach diseases. Also I was hoping to free up some time for the housewives to work with their children more, rather than having to hike to the creek in order to have water for cooking.
After building the three systems I felt that the project was successful in helping these families with clean water. In the beginning two of the families had problems planning their water consumption, but with time and more training they realized that they had to conserve water for times without rain. Also we discussed the fact that the water was only for drinking and cooking. If they wanted to wash clothes it had to be in the creek or in times of heavy rain. By the end of my service the families consistently had water for drinking and were very happy with the effect it had on their health.
I have to say thank you for the help that I was given from Appropriate Projects.
We in turn extend our thanks to Myles for completing the project and again express our gratitude to Hope You Like It for providing the funding.
