Patar Lia School Latrine Project – Senegal

Location
Patar Lia, Fatick, Senegal

Community Description
Patar Lia is a rural community of 371 people, located about 10 kilometers off the Route National near the small town of Gossas. It is made up mostly of subsistence farmers who spend the rainy season growing peanuts and millet in the fields surrounding the village. Many of the Wolofs, Seereres and Pulaars from Patar Lia supplement their income by working in the capital or other urban areas as taxi drivers, housekeepers and construction workers.

Ecole Patar Lia educates 153 students from Patar and the nearby villages of Bannan, Tongol, Fissel I and II and Toune. The eight teachers and school director have identified many issues resulting from the chronic lack of funding, prioritizing the improvement of the current health and sanitation standards.

The municipal government constructed two latrines for faculty use in 2007. However, the students are forced to go behind classrooms or to the nearby fields to perform necessary bodily functions. The resulting unsanitary condition of the school grounds puts the health of students, teachers, and their relatives at risk. Serious diseases like cholera and diarrhea affect many community members and can be attributed to poor waste management.

Project Description
This project is to construct six additional latrines next to existing classes within the school compound for use by the student body.

The latrines will be constructed against an existing cement wall in a single block, and feed into a shared septic tank. Heavy-duty cement bricks covered by cement will be used to construct the walls, and corrugated zinc will be used for the doors in each stall and serve as sturdy roofing material. This design maximizes the number of latrines while minimizing both construction time and cost.

Information on the use and importance of latrines will be illustrated using health-themed murals, and these lessons integrated into the existing curriculum during the coming school year.

Project funds will be used to cover the costs of materials, supplies and skilled labor for these latrines.

Unskilled labor, eight cubic meters of soil, and hundreds of liters of water will be donated by the community.

The Association des Parents des Eleves (parents of student’s association) will also make a monetary contribution of 25,000 cfa (about $50 USD) to demonstrate their support of the project and the high value they place on the health and safety of their children.

Project Impact
Approximately 160 teachers and students will be directly affected by this latrine project. The improved sanitation and subsequent disease reduction of this project will create an indirect benefit for the 1,500 people in the neighboring villages of Bannan, Tongol, Fissel I and II and Toune.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Stephanie Shumsky

Comments
Latrine construction is a simple way to dramatically improve the health and sanitation standards of the Patar Lia Primary school, something the community itself has identified as a priority.

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 The Soneva SLOW LIFE Trust as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Stephanie Shumsky of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Stephanie and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Senegal.




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