Location
La Honda, San Francisco District, Veraguas Province, Panama
Community Description
La Honda is an 800-person community nestled in a valley in the mountains of Panama. The people are almost entirely subsistence farmers who occasionally supplement their incomes doing odd construction jobs in other parts of the country. Jobs are extremely limited and what few jobs there are involve intense manual labor at larger farms that pay only a few dollars a day.
This is not a wealthy area and many houses consist of little more than a single room with corrugated tin walls and dirt floors. The center of town consists of one church, one very small general store and the elementary school.
Many do not have the basic waste disposal system they need for their families to live healthy lives.
The elementary school in La Honda is modest, consisting of three classrooms, each containing two grades 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-6th with about 20 students per classroom.
Project Description
This project is to build five new latrines at homes that either have no existing latrines or have latrines so poor that they need to be replaced.
The holes will be 10 feet deep and four feet on a side. Because the soil in the community is so dense, lining the walls will not be necessary for the protection of the water table.
The cover plate will be made of concrete reinforced with rebar. Each latrine will have a molded concrete seat, and will be ventilated using plastic tubing.
The walls and door be constructed of 3 x 7 corrugated zinc sheets, and the posts holding up the structure will be made from small trees.
Project funds will be used to purchase materials, including cement, toilet bowls, nails, rebar and corrugated sheet metal.
All the work will be done by members of the community.
Project Impact
20 people will benefit from this project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
David Clarke
Comments
This is a project to help the neediest families in this community who possess few resources. It has great community support, with all of the labor provided by the recipient families and other villagers. The improved hygiene will have a significant impact on the reduction of illness and disease.
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 Diana Canale, of Indiana, PA, USA, with the help of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer David Clarke.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify David of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by David and/or those of other PCVs in the country.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.