This program is made possible through a partnership of WATER CHARITY and Ecotopia eco-hotel.
Location : Semil, Guatemala
Community Description
Semil is a small Mayan Village in Guatemala. The village has a population of close to 1800 people but there are around 12,000 indigenous Mayan people within one hour’s walking distance of the school and there is no running water or filtered drinking water in this village and most children completely lose their teeth by the time they reach puberty, because soda is cheaper than drinking water. This also means that Diabetes is running rampant throughout the village.
Project Description
The project is to install a water system that will provide a clean, sterile environment for the children, as well as the community at large.
We will be installing a water pump system that will channel water from the nearby river to the school, which will include a water filtration system that provides an access point for clean, sterile drinking water, as well as bathrooms for the local school and community. Part of this project will also include educating the children on hygiene practices using proper bathroom facilities, washing their hands, and brushing their teeth on a daily basis. We will also be sharing this water with a clinic that is under construction adjacent to the school, which will provide health services to thousands.
Currently, the focus is on providing running water and proper bathroom facilities to the local school. Step one is to install working bathrooms and filtered drinking water, which will provide an access point where people can fill up their water containers to take home.
The total cost for building this system with the bathrooms pumps & filters and labor is roughly $13,000 USD. This will be providing the tubing, installation, and filters to the clinic. The total time for construction will be roughly 90 days from the time of funding, meaning this positive impact can be achieved very quickly and with instant results.
Project Administration
Water Charity is funding the project to buy labor and materials that will lead to a positive impact on the community, especially on the lives of people & kids at school. Water Charity funds will be used to buy sand, steel and cement, as well as three running water tanks, also a water pump construction is well underway.
The project is being done in partnership with a local eco-tourist hotel called Ecotopia. It is being managed on the ground by our friend and associate John Hatch, who runs the hotel and has a very interesting crypto-funding model where people can purchase NFTs to help him do projects in the town. After the school water supply and bathrooms are taken care of, we intend to help John and Cryptopia build a health clinic next to the school. Currently, the villagers have to travel a long distance to see any medical help, and most babies are delivered in the dirt on the church floor. A health clinic with running, clean water will make a huge impact on this remote region.
Once the bathrooms are completed, the next plan is to build a proper kitchen facility for the school, as well as a computer room that will provide access to technology and the Internet, massively increasing the opportunities and resources for these children. We also plan to build a playground for the kids, and a Permaculture Garden that will allow us to teach them about building a sustainable future.
Comments This project will provide adequate sanitation facilities, allow for proper hygiene, and create a storage facility for water needed at the school.
Project Cost
In addition to the school water supply, bathrooms and immediate water tank and pump infrastructure, Water Charity is looking to help John and the village with community water taps (so they don’t have to drink soda), more sanitation facilities to discourage open defecation, and the grand prize of a fully stocked health clinic for the area. The total cost of all this will reach up to $200k USD or more, any donations we receive in excess of the costs of this project will carry over into the next project/phase.
Donations collected to Date
$0
The project has been fully funded by Water Charity. We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below.
Call To Nature Seed Preservation & Permaculture Well Project – Ghana
EXPLANATION OF THE NEED
Call To Nature’s mission is to care for the Earth, care for people, and share valuable resources by implementing permaculture principles, through farming, heirloom seed saving, and providing hands-on training related to the importance of the use of permaculture in sustaining the environment and by creating a culture that is inspired by natural ways to produce seeds and food that will resolve food instability. Their business is one of the best in heirloom seed production in Africa and the first of its kind in Ghana. The business relies on unique methods designed with nature in mind, through farming and the production of high-quality seeds and food that will eventually lead to the end of food insecurity in many parts of the continent of Africa, and other areas around the world.
The project has grown from just school gardening and tree planting and from 4 acres piece of land to 17 acres.5 years ago, they began collecting and reviving heirloom seeds across the world for our newly constructed seed bank in order to help resolve the issue of food insecurity and to tell all the beautiful stories around them from the origin, name source, and use. Their seed collection is not only focusing on food but also on plant species that help protect the environment, especially species that help protect water bodies and species when intercrop retains moisture content in the soil, so farmers can use less water for farming. The operations are currently facing a huge water challenge on site and therefore presenting their request to Water Charity for support.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project is to construct an 80-meter-deep borehole that will serve the seed bank, seed lab, germ center, and the seed processing unit. A 2 inches PVC pipe will be running 150 meters away from the borehole connecting to the lab, seed bank, and the germination center. A 2 separate 5000L water tank will be installed on an erected concrete platform, one near the seed bank and the other at the seed lab/germination center. This system is going to be powered by a 3HP submersible pump for an efficient water supply into the water tank placed on an erected 20 feet concrete platform.
PROJECT IMPACT
This is going to serve the entire world with no limitations.
Project Administration
This project will be implemented under the supervision and direction of Solomon Amuzu, C.E.O / owner of Call To Nature Permaculture Ghana.
Monitoring and Maintenance
Once the project is completed it will be fully managed and maintained by Call To Nature team.
PROJECT COST / Breakdown
Borehole drilling: 1100 USD
Pump: 500 USD
Water tank x 2 (5000L): 1000 USD
Pipes/fittings: 350 USD
Labor cost: 300 USD
Transportation: 100 USD
Concrete work: 510 USD
Miscellaneous and other costs: 200 USD
TOTAL COST: 4060 USD
Water Charity appreciates any and all donations to this project and our overall work. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent possible where you live. Put the project or program name in the notes if you want all your money to go to this project or program.
To read about the Water Charity & Call To Nature Seedreservation & Permaculture Program, Click Here.
Update on Restoration and Protection of Bofedales Project – Peru
2022 Mid Project Report
To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
The first phase of the Restoration and Protection of Bofedales Project was completed in the first half of 2022 and included coordination with the 5 communities participating in the project as well as an initial diagnostic of the area and vegetation of the bofedales in each community during the rainy season. To begin the diagnostics, the engineer contracted to lead the project identified and trained 2 technical assistants that were chosen from the participating communities. The technical assistants were trained on how to measure the area of bofedales and the green mass (amount of green plants) per bofedal. The collection of baseline data is crucial for project success because it identifies the types of natural grasses in each beneficiary’s land, the overall state of the bofedal, and the measures that need to be taken to protect and restore the environment. The initial diagnostic identified a total of 61 beneficiaries who steward a total of 70 hectares of bofedales. Specific information from the initial diagnostic can be found in Annex I and photos from this first phase of project implementation are shown below:
The next phase of the project will begin in August 2022, which is the peak of the dry season in Peru. The second phase will involve measuring the water flow of each bofedal’s water source and the dry mass of each bofedal. This data will complement the data collected in the rainy season, help the technical team identify the best strategies, and provide baseline data to measure progress after project completion. Once the analysis of dry season data is collected, the technical team will begin training sessions with each of the 5 communities on methods to restore and protect bofedales. After the trainings are completed, the communities will implement strategies, such as planting native grasses and building berms, swales, and infiltration ditches to direct water flow to bofedales. That step will be completed in time for the rainy season that begins in December. Plant mass per bofedal and water flow rates will then be measured again in 2023 to evaluate how project activities contributed to the changes in the bofedales.
Thank you for supporting this critical project that supports community-led efforts to protect and restore vital landscapes in the Peruvian Altiplano. The project is part of communities’ multi-year plan to not only restore their landscapes but also improve their economic situation and quality of life through improved alpaca herding practices. You are supporting communities who are disproportionately impacted by climate change to overcome challenges from decreased water supplies, making it possible for them to stay in their homelands and preserve their culture and way of life.
Mbour is located in the middle of the Petite Cote region, only 80km south of Dakar, Senegal. Supporting a population of around 200,000, it’s Senegal’s fifth largest city and one of the country’s fastest growing. As a large city, Mbour contains a mélange of all of the countries’ ethnic groups and languages. While Wolof is spoken widely throughout the city, and is the main form of communication among the Senegalese, one will also hear Sereer (as it is the second most dominant ethnic group in the city), and at times, Pulaar, French, etc.
Due to its status as a large city expanding rapidly, Mbour has various shanty settlements that have high rates of poverty, unemployment and sanitation problems. Access to clean drinking water in these poor areas of the city has remained a challenge, causing various health concerns. Many young Senegalese have left their villages and smaller towns in search of better opportunities in the tourist economy of Mbour. Finding work is hard, so they often end up turning to the sex trade or hassling tourists. Most of the young men engage in the dangerous and treacherous journey of using boats to travel to the Canary Islands or Spain, in search of better life. These trips often end in disaster, with hundreds drowning.
Mbour Project 1
After re-digging, as well as dewatering and flushing the well, we will install a new complete German Mark 2 handpump; we will also construct a water trough and perform water quality testing.
Mbour Project 2
We will drill a borehole 4.5 inches in diameter at 60 meters depth; after digging the new borehole, we will install a new complete German Mark 2 hand pump. Again, we will construct a concrete water trough for the village livestock and will perform water quality testing.
This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION.
This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion, CLICK HERE.
Location
Barrio Las Cruces, Chiapas, México
Community Description
Barrio Las Cruces is a neighborhood of 35 homes with 185 inhabitants, plus one on the way. The community is located near the small municipal town of La Grandeza, about 3 hours by car from Motozintla into the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains. The people are of Mam ethnicity and some elders still speak the language. The neighbors enjoy good relations, and cooperation and unity among the residents of the barrio are values that are expressly fostered in their meetings.
The people in Las Cruces maintain their families by producing corn, beans, and some vegetables for their own consumption during the rainy season. The soil is fertile and would sustain a second crop if there was water with which to irrigate. People have edible plants in containers around their patios. Some families raise sheep to sell as livestock. The standard of living is very poor.
Some of the women crochet tote bags that they sell in La Grandeza. They are interested in finding new products they can make to sell as well. Their lives would be infinitely easier if they no longer had to worry about where the water will come from. This would free up time that could be better spent on creating cottage industries in order to be able to contribute directly to the economy of their households.
Problem Addressed
While the small town of La Grandeza does have a municipal water supply, the people in Las Cruces are too far away to benefit. Many years ago, they pooled their resources in order to solve the urgent need for water, but given their limited incomes, the amount they collected only allowed them to buy a couple of kilometers of ½ inch hose. The water that comes from that inadequate system only provides a trickle to each home for a couple of hours every 25 or 30 days, depending on the amount of flow at a given time of year.
The small creek they have used up to now dries up at the end of the dry season so during March, April and May, there is scant water to be shared. When the rains finally start, families collect rainwater from the runoff of their roofs. But there seems to be an emerging trend in recent years of long periods of drought in the middle of the rainy season. In 2018, there was no rain for 5 weeks beginning in July.
The lack of access to water causes great hardship for these families. They struggle to maintain their households with children, a few edible plants and some chickens with very little water to work with. For several months of the year and during periods of drought, there is no other option than to carry water from a couple of kilometers away, a tedious and laborious task that mostly falls on women to do. There is a kindergarten in the community that also suffers from a lack of water.
Project Description
This project is to build a water system for Barrio Las Cruces.
The people are organized into a formal water association which is administered by elected representatives. Their committee has a designated person whose job is to organize the people to maintain the waterline and to ensure that the water is equally distributed among homes. They have found a new water source and have secured the rights to use it. It is a crystal-clear creek that flows from spring all year round from an underground river.
The proposed project will involve building a covered tank at the source to pool the water for uptake and building a distribution tank on a site that has been donated for this purpose. A smaller tank will also be built to allow the line to breathe partway from the source to the holding tank.
A 3.5-kilometer-long waterline will be laid down using 2” polyduct hose. The creek is located such that the hose will follow the highway for a large part of the distance to the holding tank. The terrain will allow the men to bury it which will prolong the life of the material, prevent vandalism and make maintenance easier since the line will follow an easily accessible path near the homes. Fortunately, there are no places where the hose would have to be hung over any ravines. The water committee will be provided with a specially-designed uptake filter to help prevent debris from clogging the hose.
A member of the community donated an excellent location on the highest point nearest to the homes where they will build the distribution tank. Each family will connect their own ½ hose that will bring the water to their home by gravity feed. They have the proper paperwork on file that ensures that the land will belong to the community in the future.
The men in the community will do the manual labor required to create the system by working in teams until the work is completed. They are anxious to begin.
Project Impact The project will benefit 185 people living in 35 homes.
Project Administration The project will be administered by Tamara Brennan, Ph.D. of The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action, an award-winning non-profit that has had a permanent presence in the region since 1997.
This project is the 19th water system project in the ongoing Sierra Madre Water Program, a comprehensive effort to improve water access in the underserved and impoverished Sierra Madre de Chiapas region of Mexico, spanning the border with Guatemala. The program has already brought water to more than 8,000 people.
Monitoring and Maintenance
The water committee has the responsibility of maintaining the water system. The new system will be much more stable and secure and will require much less maintenance in comparison to the precarious system they have had.
Fundraising Target $7,100
Funds raised in excess of the project amount will be allocated to other projects in the country.
Donations Collected to Date $7,100
Dollar Amount Needed$0 – This project has been funded through the generosity of Michael and Carla Boyle, of Nelsonville, Ohio. Additional donations using this Donate button will be used for future projects in Mexico.
Location: The community is located along the river just outside of the small city of Belisario Dominguez on the coastal side of the Sierra Madre mountain range. This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion, CLICK HERE.
Problem to be addressed: The amount of water available to the community has diminished significantly due to logging and to the changing climate conditions of recent years. As a result, there is not enough water for household use. During the dry season, people go for many weeks without water.
To make matters worse, the coffee harvest happens at the time of year when springs and creeks stop flowing, leaving them without the water they must have to remove the sticky fruit from the coffee beans. That means that in spite of a year of hard work to produce their coffee, without water to wash it the coffee ferments making it difficult to sell for more than the lowest price. Often the cost of production over a year is more than they earn for their efforts. Potentially, properly prepared coffee can attract specialty buyers who pay more for quality and are always looking for groups with whom they can do business year after year. In 2020 the community was approved by the local government Ejido Arenal to purchase a new water source. The cost of acquiring it was shared by the members of their water association, a significant effort for them that required sacrifice. While this was a great achievement, the cost of materials to build the water line and the necessary structures is more than the people can assume given the severe poverty in which they live.
Description of the Community: The Sierra Madre district of southern Mexico is an agricultural region where most people make a living as peasant farmers. There are very few alternative sources of work other than small-scale farming. Traditionally the father of a family owns the land which he gives to his eldest son(s) when he no longer can work it. Often the land is divided among several children. Since families are large, not all children inherit land because there is not enough to divide into meaningfully productive parcels. Those who do not inherit land have to leave to find new lands to cultivate.
Ocho de Julio was founded in 2012 when a group of people left the high country to find land to farm. They were fortunate to find a large coffee grower who sold them his land that was already in production. The people were able to acquire their individual plots by making payments. This allowed some to take advantage of existing coffee trees while others opened unfarmed areas for coffee production.
The community is located along the river just outside of the small city of Belisario Dominguez on the coastal side of the Sierra Madre mountain range. It is home to 63 families with a population of over 300 people. While they now make their living by producing coffee on their small plots of land, their labor-intensive work only provides a life of poverty.
Description of the Project: The new communal water source is a perineal creek 4 kilometers up the steep, forested slope from the homes. This project will consist of installing a 2-inch diameter hose from the source to the community. To accomplish this we propose to provide them the materials they need including 40 rolls of 100-meter sturdy polyduct hose and other materials to build the water line. We will use metal O rings that are screwed tightly over each end of the joined sections of the hose to prevent water pressure or vandals from disconnecting them. This is the system that we have successfully used in 2 dozen projects elsewhere in the region. The hose will be buried to protect it and keep it out of the sun, a strategy recommended by the manufacturer to prolong its life.
Sexto Sol will advise them on how to manage variations in water pressure along the line to create even flow and maintain the hose in good working order. We will also provide them with a specially designed water uptake filter to help cut down on the work of maintaining the system.
The community is prepared to share the cost associated with building a distribution tank. Masons who live in the community will supervise the building of the tank that will be constructed of stone that is available on site. Stone water tanks are considered to be the strongest that can be built. By using locally available stone, the cost of building the tank will be accessible to the families when their resources are pooled. Each household will connect their individual hose to the tank to bring the water to their home.
The community is represented by the “agente municipal” who is elected to serve. He will be organizing the men to do the work to build their system. Under his supervision, the men have begun the necessary work of clearing a path through the dense forest where they will be able to install the hose.
Who will benefit: There are 63 coffee-farming families who will benefit from this project. The elementary school in the community needs water for sanitation. By having reliable access to water, each household will be able to process their coffee while enjoying a significantly better quality of life, free from the difficulties of not having access to water.
Administration of the Project: The project will be administered by Tamara Brennan, Ph.D. of The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action, an award-winning non-profit that has had a permanent presence in the region since 1997. She has been working with the community to review technical issues and develop the plan to be followed.
This project will be part of the on-going effort of the Sierra Madre Water Program, a comprehensive collaboration of the Sexto Sol Center with Water Charity and the National Peace Corps to improve water access in the underserved impoverished communities in the Sierra Madre region of Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala. To date this multi-year effort has brought water to more than 11,000 people.
Monitoring and Maintenance The people in Ocho de Julio are well organized and committed to working collaboratively to secure water for all. The agente municipal and the other officers of the water committee will oversee the long-term maintenance of the system. A designated person will administer the delivery of the water to the different parts of the community under a schedule when needed to ensure equitable distribution and to make sure the resource is used wisely. They are anxious to begin the work so that the years of hardship will finally end.
This project is completed and has been funded by Michael and Carla Boyle, of Foster, WV.
Water Project for Barrio San Miguel, Ejido de Benito Juarez, Chiapas, Mexico
Location: Barrio San Miguel, Ejido Benito Juarez, Sierra Madre de Chiapas, México
Description of the Community: Barrio San Miguel is a settlement of 37 families living on a steep ridge with a dramatic view of the city of Motozinla in the river valley below. They build their homes in the traditional ways from adobe blocks made from the yellow clay found in the area or by using reeds and mud to fashion walls by hand. Their dirt patios are swept and tidy, and small gardens of herbs, chilies and flowers are protected from the chickens by fences made of sticks. The Barrio is home to 249 people.
The men have very few opportunities to work for cash other when the fortunate ones find occasional work as masons. Most people must rely on raising corn and beans to feed their families. Some of the families have sheep which provide manure to fertilize the corn for better yields. Women raise chickens for the eggs and occasionally for the meat when there is a special occasion that calls for a traditional feast of tamales.
In recent years, weather patterns have become increasingly erratic. As a result, there have been years of hunger when the corn crop has failed due to extreme rainfall, drought or extreme wind storms that topple the stalks irreparably in a matter of minutes. It is an impoverished way of life so people do the best they can.
Problem to be solved: Decades ago the local government build a water system for San Miguel another settlement in the area. However as the population has grown in villages nearby, others have tapped into the same water system that San Miguel residents had relied on. Now there is not been enough water to meet their needs. During the dry season, they have had to survive without water for extended periods. When the water does come in the dry season, it is “boiling hot” since the metal pipes bake in the sun during the months of cloudless days in the high country.
Description of the Project: To their good fortune, the community has secured ownership of a perineal creek 3 kilometers away. But poverty that has prevented them from buying the expensive materials needed to bring the water to the community. They tried for years to find help from the local authorities without success.
This project will create a new water line from the creek and connect it to the original holding tank to take advantage of the existing individual hoses that distribute the water to each home. The entire system will be gravity fed. We will build a dam at the source using rock from the site to allow the water to pool for uptake. The water line will be made of a 2-inch ployduct hose that will be buried along its length to keep it out of the sun. This is the kind of system we have already designed and built in over 2 dozen communities in the region.
Sexto Sol will advise them on how to manage variations in water pressure along the line to create even flow and maintain the hose in good working order. We will also provide them with a specially designed water uptake filter to help cut down on the work of maintaining the system.
Who will benefit: The population in San Miguel is 249 people. The water will also serve for sanitation at their public meeting hall.
Administration of the Project: The project will be administered by Tamara Brennan, Ph.D. of The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action, an award-winning non-profit that has had a permanent presence in the region since 1997. She has been working with the community to review technical issues and develop the plan to be followed.
This project will be part of the on-going effort of the Sierra Madre Water Program, a comprehensive collaboration of the Sexto Sol Center with Water Charity and the National Peace Corps to improve water access in the underserved, impoverished communities in the Sierra Madre region of Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala. To date, this multi-year effort has brought water to more than 11,700 people.
Monitoring and Maintenance: The families are organized into a formal water committee with leaders who oversee everything related to their water system. Each household is expected to send an able-bodied person to work on the project according to a schedule they will agree on. They have already cleared the wide path through the forest where the hose will be installed in preparation for this project. As is customary practice, the water committee, with its leaders elected by the people, will organize the on-going maintenance of the system into the future. A person call a “fontanero” will be charged with ensuring that the water is equally distributed to every household.
The people are anxious to do the work necessary to finally secure enough water for their community. They have enthusiastically confirmed that they will start the work immediately if they were to be so fortunate as to receive this help.
This project has been funded through the generosity of Michael and Carla Boyle of Foster, WV.This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.
Conclusion of the Water Project for Barrio San Miguel – Mexico
This project has been completedandfunded through the generosity of Michael and Carla Boyle of Foster, WV.To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
The people in Barrio San Miguel had just about given up hope of ever being able to resolve the long-standing problem they had endured with their water system. They are the last community to receive the water from the pipe that has delivered water to them for several years. The problem has been that the amount of water they received had been greatly reduced as more and more households upstream connected to the line. The news that we were going forward with their water project was met with great relief.
The project started with the men building the catchment dam on the creek. A couple of weeks later it was with a lot of anticipation that they walked two kilometers up the highway at dawn to wait for the truck that would deliver the hose to them. We had it delivered as close to the source as the road went. Then the real work began.
Over the next weeks, the men organized themselves into work crews to carry the large rolls of hose to the site and begin installing it. This is heavy work but with 37 households that were to be served, each family sent someone to participate for the duration until the work was completed. They had to take a break to allow people to harvest their corn but resumed the work as soon as possible.
There was some difficulty initially with how to configure the connection to the original metal pipe. Fortunately, they followed the advice of a longtime volunteer with Sexto Sol, Armando Gutierrez, who assisted them in reconfiguring the connection. This allowed the water to flow unimpeded so that the pressure from the downgrade from the source could push the water up the rise to the community. The people are now enjoying access to more water without the need to ration it or go long periods without. Barrio San Miguel is a very poor settlement. They could not have managed this project without assistance. They extend their most sincere thanks to Water Charity and to the sponsors of this project for making it possible for them to make this significant improvement in the lives of their families and community.
Ang Metrei Primary School Bathroom Project – Cambodia
This project is made possible through the partnership of Water Charity and the National Peace Corps Association.
This is a project under the LET GIRLS LEARN Program, a collaboration of First Lady Michelle Obama and the Peace Corps to expand access to education for girls around the world!
Community Description Surrounded by a health center, pagoda, and market, Ang Metrei Primary School is located in the heart of the village. Due to its location, and its easy accessibility from the main road, Ang Metrei Primary School has the largest number of students in the entire commune. Six large villages that surround the school send their children there. The school is constantly alive with students learning in the mornings and afternoons. When school is not in session, children can be seen running around, and playing games such as soccer and “lot kawsaou” (jump over the rubber band). In this game you can find students, especially young girls, flying through the air as they try to jump over a long braided rubber band at different heights.
Problem Addressed Ang Metrei Primary School is located in the heart of the village and despite the constant heavy flow of foot traffic, there is no clean area for teachers or students to relieve themselves.
Currently the school has two latrines for the whole school. These latrines are falling apart and are nearly unusable. Every day, teachers and students have to carry buckets of water from a faraway well, about 100 meters from the latrine, to fill the cisterns in the bathrooms. Since this is labor-intensive, often enough the latrines are left without water, making their use quite difficult. This creates a situation ripe for open defecation, and this induces fear in teachers and students, especially females.
Since there is no clean bathroom available with clean water to use, teachers and students will limit the amount of water they consume while at school. In doing so they hope to suppress any urge they may have to use the bathroom while at school. This is very dangerous because long-term dehydration is damaging to health. Especially in Cambodia, where the heat can become intolerable, teachers and students need to make sure they are regularly hydrating. During the hotter months (March-May) an increase in the number of young women and children can be seen going to the private clinics for IVs because of dehydration. The opportunity of spreading disease and illness is increased by the lack of clean running water.
Due to its inconvenience, students will not wash their hands on a regular basis, ultimately creating an easy environment for illness and disease to spread. Open defecation, combined with the lack of an area to properly clean up, creates an easy facilitator for the oral-fecal route, which further leads to dangerous dehydration.
Project Description This project is to build new, sanitary restroom facilities for the Ang Metrei Primary School. It will include a large water tank, and handwashing stations.
Construction will begin by digging a 5-meter square pit that is 2.5 meters deep. The latrines will be built upon the first 3 meters of this pit. The remaining 2 meters will hold the main waste cement container that will be hand-constructed with clay bricks and cement. The first 3 meters of the pit will contain three 1 x 1 x 1-meter handmade brick boxes. These boxes will receive the initial waste that is gravity flushed from the toilets and flows through a 100-millimeter pipe into the main waste tank located within the pit directly behind the latrines.
The main waste tank will be 2 m long x 5 m wide x 3 m high. The tank will be hand-made by contractors using clay bricks and cement. The tank will have an excess of 0.5 meters above ground to allow for a metal door to be created on top of the main waste tank to allow easy access for waste to be pumped when full.
The latrine structure, which will all be constructed from clay bricks, will be created over the first 3 meters of the pit. The dimension of the whole latrine structure, with its three stalls, is as follows: The width of the floor is 5 meters, the height of the structure is 3 meters, the width of the roof 5.6 meters, and the depth from the front of the structure to the back is 3 meters. The walls and floors of each latrine will be covered in porcelain tile. This will allow for easier cleanup after every use. The toilets will be porcelain squat style and each bathroom will have a cistern.
On the entrance side of the latrine structure, two sinks will be installed, one on the left wall and one on the right wall. These two sinks will be made of durable metal to guarantee longevity. The location of these sinks is key because it is easily visible from the bathroom stall. As soon as teacher and students exit the stall they will see a sink for them to use.
The sinks will be adhered to the walls with a combination of glue, screws, and cement. The roof of the latrine structure will consist of a flat surface made from cement in order to create a sturdy base on which the 2,000-liter water tank will rest. This tank will be made from durable metal. Water from the tank will be gravity fed through 21-millimeter pipes into the latrines and sinks.
The 2,000-liter tank will be replenished by a private water supply. The school is in the beginning stages of installing plumbing to receive running water from this company. The private company cleans and uses the water from the nearby river. The water pressure from the water plant is strong enough to pump water into the tank. All that will be needed is to install a valve on the 21-millimeter pipe leading to the tank from the pipes, installed before the start of the project. The water company has promised to install the plumbing into the school for free before the start of the project. This guarantees that teachers and students will have continuous access to water in the latrines and sinks. Nonetheless, the water from the water plant is not potable. It is however safe for common everyday use.
The school, at this time, has water filters, given by USAID, in each of its classrooms for the teachers and students to use. These filters have not been as beneficial as they could be because everyone that attends the school limits the amount of water they drink in a day because they do not want to have to use the bathroom while at school. By constructing latrines with continuous access to running water, teachers and students will not only feel comfortable using the bathrooms, but this will encourage proper hydration while at school. Lastly, the installation of the sinks will further encourage students to practice proper hand-washing techniques. Teachers will help reinforce this practice by holding hand-washing workshops in their respective classes.
Project Impact This project will directly impact 619 people, including 600 students ranging from the ages of six to twelve years of age and 19 teachers on staff. This project will also impact visitors and future students and staff.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project Giselle Campos
Monitoring and Maintenance This project will be monitored and maintained by the PCV as well as teachers, parents and community members.
Comments This project is part of our Let Girls Learn Initiative.
Young women and children are the most vulnerable when dealing with issues related to water and sanitation. For young boys, urinating in public is a common practice. However, for young girls urinating in public is highly frowned upon. For this reason, girls will limit the amount of water they will drink in a day because they are afraid of having to use the bathroom when away from home. This action promotes dehydration, which is very dangerous in a country with a hot tropical climate. IVs in the arms of young women are too commonly seen in Cambodia. While talking with one of the doctors at a local private clinic he said that the most common reason why his female patients come to seek his care are for symptoms related to dehydration. With the implementation of this project, a clean and safe space for young girls to use the bathroom while they are at school will be created. In doing so their health and wellness will increase, while ultimately decreasing absences from school due to symptoms related to dehydration.
PCV Volunteer, Giselle Campos states that, “Ang Metrei Primary School holds a special place in my heart. Every Sunday you can see me with at least 10 kids playing a pick up game of soccer. This has become something special that my kids look forward to at the end every week. My favorite moment had to be when I first met seven-year-old PoPo at the school. She was a very shy girl who would hide away from playing team sports. After countless encouragement, and a little footwork she now dominates our games with poise and ease. Who knows, maybe we will see her in the future SEA Olympics.”
Dollar Amount of Project $2,100
Donations Collected to Date $0
Dollar Amount Needed $2,100
ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT OF THE PROJECT. Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will allow you a posted dedication, if that is something you would like.
to Eliminate Disease and Provide Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
Chris Roesel, Jeff Morgan, Eric Lehan, and CCEDUC
December, 2020
This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the National Peace Corps Association.
This proposal is to provide water and stop preventable diseases in a rural community of Uganda. The community we propose to help is Dula village in Kei sub-county, Yumbe District, Uganda.
Dula has 358 households (roughly 2000 people). We are raising $15,825 to provide water, sanitation, touchless handwashing stations, malaria eradication, and income generation.
Currently, the only water source for the village is an open water hole shared with animals (shown below). The nearest borehole is in the neighboring village which is 5 kms from the households to access. 54 households do not have latrines. 115 Latrines collapsed due to heavy rains (see the second picture below). Malaria is on an upswing this year. A nearby community reported a 61% malaria incidence rate in 2020.
A few pictures from Dula are attached below:
Waterhole from which the community gets drinking and cooking water A latrine in DulaAnother waterhole picture
In the proposed project, Chris Roesel, an RPCV who has an MPH from Johns Hopkins in international health, Jeff Morgan, a local Kansas plumbing company owner and board member of Plumbers without Borders, and CCEDUC, a local Ugandan NGO, with support from Eric Lehan, P.E., Civil/Sanitation Engineer and member of Engineers without Borders, will work with Dula to stop disease transmission by improving water, sanitation, hygiene, and malaria prevention and treatment infrastructure and supplies. The result will be that Dula saves thousands of dollars in medical expenses a year and hundreds of days of lost labor due to illness. The work will be a simple process.
The process will be as follows:
Require upfront community contributions to the community leadership for the activities.
Meet and consult the leadership of the District Health Office (Roesel established this relationship last year).
Convene a community meeting and plan with the community, using the Future Search Conference methodology (futuresearch.net/methodology), condensed into two days.
Initiate baseline survey of water, diarrhea, malaria, and income.
Invite bids for state-of-the-art work from local contractors.
Sign and supervise contracts.
Install at least one well and rainwater collection facilities.
Refurbish or rebuild latrines. Ensure malaria prevention (LLITNs) and treatment.
With the support of TCP Global and VSLA.net, establish a microloans group. Celebrate and conduct an initial evaluation of work.
Impact will be evaluated one year later with the support of DHO. The estimated cost of this project is $15,000, not including travel which will be paid for by team members.
Dula does not have a school nor a health post. It has a village leader and a council team. The village has a Village Savings and Loan Association. The community contribution will be labor and local materials.
LATRINE BASE PLATES, VENTILATION, SCREENS, WELL, STORAGE TANK, and ANTI-MALARIALS
Item
Amount
Cost
Explanation
Cement
0.5 bag/pp*204
$ 581.40
204 latrine base plates and cover of well
Rebar 63mm
1.33 m/pp
$1550.00
Reinforcement of above, 5×4’x150′ rolls
4″ Conduit
50′
$ 52.00
Well
204 4″ conduit pipes
10′
$2,040.00
Ventilation
2/3 sheet corrugated iron
12’x2 1/16′
$3,125.28
Roof
Screen
5’x50′
$ 113.00
Anti-malarials
$2,000.00
Sand
$ 200.00
Gravel
$ 200.00
ISSB Machine
2
$3,000.00
Drill
$ 305.00
3/4″ black iron pipe * 30′
$ 86.65
1 10,000 L tank
$ 800.00
Hand pump
$ 500.00
Skilled labor
$ 300.00
Walls for latrines
$ 971.67
Total
$158,250
Dula Baseline Survey
2/4/2021
10% systematic Household sample (36 households)
Water source for family:
River 10%
Stream 14%
Unprotected well 33%
Unprotected spring 25%
97% had their water source dry up at least once in the last month.
64% were an hour or more from their water sources.
Latrines:
75% (27) had no latrine.
25% (9) had traditional pit latrines.
None had handwashing facilities for their latrines.
Diarrhea incidence in the last 2 weeks:
66% (23) of youngest children had diarrhea
34% did not
Malaria:
94% of youngest children had malaria
Spent an average of 24,556 UGX/month on diarrhea tx=$79.56/year.
Spent an average of 29,761 UGX/month on malaria tx=$96.48/year.
Earned an average of 56,714 UGX/week/hh=$796/year.
Spent 22% of income treating diarrhea and malaria.
HH=household.
Tx= treatment.
The project’s deliverables will be the following in Dula, a village of 358 households:
1) 95% decrease in the incidence of diarrhea
2) 50% decrease in the incidence of malaria
3) 80% decrease in household expenses treating diarrhea and malaria
Conclusion of Water Project for Poblado Ocho de Julio – Mexico
The people in Poblado Ocho de Julio have a last realized their long-awaited desire to secure enough water for all 63 families living there. With the completion of their water project, they now can rest assured that going forward, each family will be able to better prepare their coffee for the market. This opens the possibility for them to organize into a grower cooperative so that they can negotiate a better price from local buyers. Daily life has become significantly easier now that they no longer need to haul water for household use.
The effort to bring water into the community began two years ago when they purchased the rights to a spring in the mountains above their community. They knew that pooling their monies to buy their water source would be a risk since the price they paid tapped out their limited resources, leaving nothing for buying the materials needed to build the system to carry to water to the community. It was understandably a tremendous relief for them when we delivered the 40 huge rolls of heavy-duty hose to their community. It meant that they would finally be able to build the system needed to bring the water into every home.
The communal water line is 4 kilometers long so getting the rolls of polyduct hose into place was a major task. The men shared the challenging work of hauling the heavy material through the steep tropical landscape of volcanic rock and rainforest. It took months to complete the job with a representative from each family providing their labor along with the others on the days they did not have to tend their coffee plots. Where the topography allowed, they buried the hose to protect it. Each end of the hose was fastened to the next with hardware designed to prevent separation. It is expected that the system will last for decades.
In March of 2022, the major rivers in the area are nearly dry even though the “worst” of the dry season is yet to come. Nevertheless, the families are enjoying the security of having a reliable source of clean water.
They send their most sincere thanks to all who made this significant improvement possible. To read about the beginning of the project, Click Here.
