Location
Thmar Puok District, Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia
Community Description
Thmar Puok is a small district town located In Banteay Meanchey Province in the northwest of Cambodia with a population of 9,147. It is situated 50 kilometers north of the Provincial Capital of Svay and lies only 15 kilometers to the east of the Thailand-Cambodia border.
One of the most prominent concerns for people living in Thmar Puok is the shortage of water. There is no main water source in the town and while there are a few wells situated throughout Thmar Puok, most people rely on using water collected throughout the rainy season, or carrying water from small ponds. Both of these options pose difficulties during the dry season, as these sources dry up well before the next rainy season can replenish them. In the dry season, therefore, sanitation decreases as a result of the lack of available water.
The Thmar Puok Primary School consists of 10 buildings used for grades 1-6 with a student population of 939 and 29 staff. Students attending the Primary School commute from 5 surrounding villages.
The school is located opposite a small pond from which water is collected and stored it in two cement water containers. These containers are currently damaged and cannot hold any water. Without a way to store water, students are left with no means to use the toilets, wash hands, or maintain hygiene.
The students have also been working with the Thmar Puok Health Center to start a vegetable garden at the Primary School where students can grow vegetables. The garden project has been a creative and successful approach to education on health and nutrition. The vegetables are available to both the students and the school staff, who maintain the garden themselves. The success of the garden project also depends heavily on the ability to pump and store water.
Project Description
This project is to provide the school with access to a local water source for uses such as washing hands, flushing toilets, and watering the school-sponsored vegetable garden.
The project will repair two storage tanks, build two additional tanks, and set up a system to pump water from the small pond into the tanks.
The containers to be repaired and built are of a design incorporating cement cylinders that measure .5 meters high and 1 meter in diameter. The total container consists of 4 cylinders placed atop one another and cemented together. The bottom cylinder is fashioned with a spout for emptying the container.
The repairs to the two existing tanks will be made by patching the tanks with cement and replacing the old and broken spouts.
The concrete cylinders for the two additional tanks will be purchased locally and the tanks will be built by local laborers.
Water will be pumped from the small lake into the water tanks with a new electric-powered pump, placed at the water’s edge.
Approximately 150 meters of flexible tubing will be attached to the machine at one end, and put into the open top of each tank at the other end. The pump is run until all 4 jars are full. Then the pump is stored in the school office until the process needs to be repeated, at a frequency of about twice per month.
Project Impact
968 people will benefit from the project, including 939 students and 29 staff.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Lisa Barker
Comments
This project is the perfect solution for the problem at hand. It will eliminate the necessity of daily trips to the lake each morning to collect minimal amounts of water for the needs of the school. It will ease the burden of retrieving water, and thereby improve sanitation and health as well as improve the efficiency of the gardening program.
Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00
Donations Collected to Date
$500.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of The Soneva SLOW LIFE Trust as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Lisa of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by the PCV and/or other projects in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.