Location
Caserio La Peña, Municipio Metapán, Departamento Santa Ana, El Salvador
Community Description
La Peña is a town consisting of 33 houses and 191 people. The majority of the population is under the age of 29. The population is 100% Catholic, and people attend church twice a week. Most people in the town over the age of 30 have never had formal education.
The town has a sincere family feel as most people share one of the four large family names of the town: Hércules, Barillas, Aguilár, or Magaña.
Between May and November, all work for the men (ages 13 through 90) revolves entirely around planting, caring for, and harvesting corn and bean fields. December and January are for storing all that has been reaped. With the money earned from their harvesting, each family earns no more than $30 monthly on average.
The women have the job of providing cooked meals for the family, washing the clothes, and milking the cows every morning.
The Metapán mayor’s office recently built bathrooms for the La Peña church but never supplied the church with the water tanks for running water, so they are left with beautiful new bathrooms that have not been used for 7 months.
The school of La Peña was built 12 years ago, and has never had running water for the students to drink, wash their hands, brush their teeth, or to wash the floors.
Project Description
This project is to establish a water supply and storage system at the church and at the school.
Under the direction of the La Peña ADESCO, two 750-liter tanks will be purchased and installed on fabricated elevated stands. Piping will be installed to connect each of the tanks to the community water supply.
All labor will be provided by the community without cost. Furthermore, a member of the community will bring all purchases (tanks, iron, and tubing) from Metapán to La Peña.
The community will also provide additional funds as necessary to complete the project.
Project Impact
The entire community of 191 people will benefit from the project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Gregory Cormier
Comments
Bringing water to both public facilities of the school will have a great impact on improved hygiene, sanitation, and health.
The large commitment from the community for labor and additional funding to complete the project ensures that the benefits of this project will be sustained far into the future.
Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00
Donations Collected to Date
$555.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded through the generosity of the Elmo Foundation.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Gregory Cormier of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Gregory and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.