Location
Jamally Ganyado, Central River Region, Sami District, The Gambia
Community Description
The community of Jamally Ganyado is a rural community located on the north bank in the Central River Region of the Gambia about 5 kilometers from Janjanbury. The village is mostly made up of people from the Fula tribe.
Thirty four families, about 1,000 people, live here and survive by growing most of their own food. Families grow coos, groundnuts, and corn. The community has a large women’s group that makes handcrafts, soaps, and gardens.
The community has no electricity and gets its water from three hand pumps distributed around the village. These pumps were installed in 1993 and frequently break down. When a pump breaks, the line at the other pumps grows longer. On average, only one pump is working at any one time in the village, making the wait for water anywhere from an hour to three hours. This drastically cuts into the time the women have for other chores and their families.
The community does its best to repair the pumps when they break. Every family contributes money to replace broken parts to fix the pumps. However, since the pumps are so old, replacing one part at a time does not fix the pump for long. The interaction of the old parts with a new quickly causes the new part to break down and fail.
In the last few months, the community has repaired one hand pump or another seven times. There have been a few days where all pumps were broken and the community was left without water.
Project Description
This project is to completely repair one of the hand pumps in the village.
The one that is currently in the worst state of repair has been chosen for a complete repair with all new parts. Once repaired, the pump will function like new and should not need to be repaired for at least three years.
The project with being overseen by Dowda Inji a member of the Village Development Committee. The repair will be completed by the pump repairman from a village next to Jamally Ganyado. He will be assisted by men from the community.
Funds that may remain after the repair will be used to purchase parts needed for the repair of the other two pumps.
The village has shown its commitment to providing clean water for its families by continually contributing money to repair their pumps. Families will continue to contribute to a fund for future pump repairs.
Project Impact
1,000 people will benefit from the project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Stephanie Starch
Comments
Because of economic factors, the community is faced with times when water is only sporadically available. While this project is not enough to ensure sustainability, it at least creates a time period when water will be regularly available, while at the same creating a breather for the community to build its reserves for future repairs.
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 friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Stephanie Starch.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Stephanie of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Stephanie and/or those other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.