This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION. 
Location
This project summary has been redacted for security reasons to omit the specific project location.
District of Dahra, Region of Louga, Senegal
Community Description
The village is approximately 30 km from the nearest town and has a population of roughly 3,000. It is made up of two ethnic groups, Wolof and Pulaar, and, dependent on the time of the year, you can find a sizable Sereer population.
The community is made up of 6 neighborhoods, and each neighborhood has at least 2 members who are volunteer community health workers. This means that they spend time extending education to the community about things such as malnutrition, malaria, exclusive breastfeeding, and vaccinations.
Problem Addressed
Currently, there is not a restroom or a water source in the middle school. As a result, many students have stopped attending school, or their attendance has dramatically decreased.
The health post serves approximately 7,000 individuals, including people from neighboring smaller communities, health post staff and their families, and even nomadic herders. It has only two fully operational restrooms.
Project Description
This project will provide seven latrines and one water access point (robinet).
The seven latrines will all be VIP latrines, consisting of cement privacy structures, roofs, and locking doors. Five of the seven latrines will have Turkish basins, and the final two will have western toilets seats.
Five of the latrines and the one robinet will be constructed at the local middle school, while the last two latrines will be added onto the health structure.
Once these structures are completed, students at the middle school will complete WASH training during class with the village’s community health workers and the volunteer. The students will also be exposed to further WASH behavior change activities through their participation in the Junior Health Committee Club.
In addition, community health workers will hold bi-monthly training on proper WASH practices at the health post to educate the citizens that will be benefitting from the new latrines at the health post.
The community will contribute in the form of cash contributions to the project.
Objectives of the project include providing students at the middle school, as well as the patients at the health post, with access to improved water and sanitation as well as providing education on the importance of good sanitation practices.
Project Impact
3,000 people will benefit from the project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Sydney Hurst
Monitoring and Maintenance
The school and health post will elect separate committees to handle the care and cleaning of the latrines, contributing to the sustainability of the project by maintaining the latrines in good working order.
Should there be a problem, the latrines and robinet are both being built by masons in the community, so they will be able to fix them in the future.
The community will sustain this project by consulting the Latrine and Robinet Addition Committee, which will see to the cleaning, maintenance, and all other tasks regarding the latrines and robinet.
The education of proper hygiene and sanitation practices will be enacted and sustained by continuing to discuss the topic and working as closely as possible with the youth. Most recently, the community has planned to begin a youth club that will focus on health issues, being a primary way to increase the sustainability of the material side of the project as well as the educational side of it.
Let Girls Learn
Five of the seven latrines that are being built will be located at the local middle school. This will provide female students with the proper environment needed to fully focus on their studies. The five latrines will be separated based on gender, two for males, two for females, and one for teachers. This separation will allow for maximum privacy and safety for the female students.
This project is part of the Let Girls Learn program started by FLOTUS Michelle Obama in partnership with the Peace Corps. The goal of this project is to keep girls attending school. It is a part of Water Charity’s Let Girls Learn Initiative – Worldwide.
Fundraising Target
$ 2,750
Funds raised in excess of the project amount will be allocated to other projects in the country.
Donations Collected to Date
$305
ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT OF THE PROJECT.
Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you “naming rights” if that is something you would like.
Dollar Amount Needed
$2,445
