52 Pumps in 52 Weeks – Senegal – Project 02 – Saare Yero Diao

This project is part of our 52 Pumps in 52 Weeks Program, being implemented by Peace Corps Volunteers Marcie Todd and Garrison Harward. To read about the program and follow its progress, CLICK HERE.

Location
Saare Yero Diao, Kolda, Senegal

Community Description
Yero Diao is a small village of 170 people located in the south of Senegal, West of Kolda. It was founded 32 years ago by Mr. Yero Diao himself. Yero in Pulaar (the local language) means an example and Diao is a familiar last name.

52 Pumps in 52 Weeks – Senegal – Project 2 - Saare Yero DiaoThe village’s primary sources of income are agriculture and silviculture. They grow veggies in the wet season and pick mangoes and cashews in the dry season. Yero Diao is about 15 k from the main road, 22k from Kolda and completely off the grid. They have no electricity, running water or health post, but they do have an awful lot of mangoes. In fact, every time a ripe mango falls from the trees, you hear a thud, “DOGE!” and then everyone in the village runs to see who gets to eat the ripe mango.

Project Description
Cawral, the woman’s group in Yero Diao, established a community garden a few years back. This garden gives local women the income needed to buy new clothes and send their kids to school and allows them to increase the overall nutritional levels in their households.

There is one rather large and deep well in the garden, from which mostly young women pull water. Providing this village with a rope pump will make pulling water more efficient. It will increase the amount of water they can pull in a given amount of time allowing them to focus more energy tending to their plants and increasing overall yields.

52 Pumps in 52 Weeks – Senegal – Project 2 - Saare Yero DiaoProject Impact
The 37 members of the women’s group will directly benefit from this pump along with all of those who use the pump for daily water access- showers, drinking, and cooking. When we asked Demba Balde, the Mayor of the village, how many people he thought would benefit from the installation of the rope pump he said, “I think the whole town will benefit.”

Comments
It is exciting to see this program move on to the second pump. Please tell your friends about it, and get ready to step up and adopt your very own pump as we proceed each week through the year.

Dollar Amount of Project
$100.00

Donations Collected to Date
$100.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of Katherine Murray, of San Leandro, CA, USA.

If you wish to contribute funds to go the overall program, go to the 52 Pumps in 52 Weeks Program – Senegal page and click on the general Donate button there.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.