Location
Ngouey Marie, near Sokone, Senegal
Community Description
Ngouey Marie is a small, ethnically diverse village in Senegal’s peanut basin, located 6 km from the town of Sokone.
The people of Ngouey Marie are from the Bambara, Mandinka, and Wolof ethnic groups. Ngouey Marie has 12 compounds and a population of approximately 250 people.
All of Ngouey Marie’s families are engaged in subsistence farming. During the dry season, small-scale cashew orchards are an important source of income for almost every family. Additional dry season activities include animal husbandry, masonry, and crafting of wooden agricultural tools.
People openly defecate in the woods, or, in the case of small children, just outside the family living space. Only one of Ngouey Marie’s 12 family compounds has a latrine.
Project Description
The project is to construct 12 simple cement-lined and capped pit latrines, one for each compound.
Members of each compound will dig a hole two meters deep and one and a half meters wide. They will acquire sand and rocks to be mixed with cement.
After these tasks have been completed, project funds will be used to purchase three 50 kg bags of cement and five 10-meter rebar reinforcing irons per latrine. Families will be responsible for transporting these items from Sokone to the village.
Members of every family compound will mix and spread their own cement. Compounds without basic masonry skills will pay or bargain for a mason.
Finally, villagers will construct a traditional “sacket” privacy fence made of millet stalks to enclose the latrine.
After the latrines have been constructed, a neighboring Peace Corps volunteer from the Health sector will give a talk in Wolof on hand washing and the process by which diarrheal diseases are spread.
Project Impact
Approximately 250 people will be affected by this project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Joey Johnston
Comments
The project is expected to yield benefits in the health, wellbeing, and dignity of the villagers. Since each will contribute large amounts of labor, there is a feeling of ownership, which will ensure that the latrines will be completed and maintained.
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 the Peace Corps Volunteer of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by the PCV 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.