Lombel Village Latrines Project – Senegal

This project is made possible through the partnership of Water Charity and the National Peace Corps Association.

Location
Lombel, Fongolimbi Arrondissement, Kedougou Region, Senegal

Community Description
Lombel is a village of approximately 200 people on the edge of the Guinean plateau in the Kedougou region of Senegal. The community is isolated. It is located at the border of Senegal and Guinea, 4 kilometers off the primary laterite road between the city of Kedougou and the border. Lombel is located on top of the cliff edge of one of the many waterfalls that drain the water of the plateau. Lombel is very small, allowing for close personal relationships between every member of the village. A typical day involves working in the morning for everyone in the village, followed by an afternoon of sitting in a group and sipping tea.

More than half of the population of Lombel is under the age of 18, meaning there is a big group of children talking, singing, and dancing loudly late into the night almost every night of the week. The people of Lombel are extremely welcoming, generous, and hardworking, and they are putting every effort and resource that they possibly can into completing this project.

Problem Addressed
Lombel previously had several latrines constructed by an international aid organization. These latrines were completely used in a short time because they did not provide adequate longer-term coverage for the populations of these villages.  There were simply not enough latrines built. Currently, no one in Lombel has access to a latrine. The current standard for defecation is open defecation in the bush surrounding the village. This causes human feces to enter the rivers that the residents of these villages swim, bathe, and wash clothes in, a likely source for the incidence of schistosomiasis and diarrheal diseases in the village. This is a situation that is easily addressed, and this project is designed to do so.

Project Description
The project will involve building a total of 23 pit latrines, every 3 cubic meters, in Lombel. Members of the villages will be digging and capping the latrines themselves, and in fact, have already dug out 10 of the latrines and are well on their way to finishing the digging portion of this project by the beginning of 2016.

Sidi Camara and Demba Camara are leading the organization and execution of the project. The latrines will be dug to ensure equal distribution of latrines throughout the village, averaging about 9 people for each latrine. Two members of the village work regularly as masons and will be capping the latrines themselves.

Water Charity funds will be used to pay for the materials needed, such as cement, iron bars, and metal wiring, and the transport of these items from the city of Kedougou to Lombel.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 225 people.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Ethan Quinn

Monitoring and Maintenance
Each latrine will be kept up by the families that use them.  They are relatively hassle-free and don’t require much in the way of maintenance.  When they are completely full, they can be filled in and covered, and new latrines will need to be dug.  This will likely be many years in the future.

Comments
Lombel is an incredibly difficult place to access, and the large truck that will be required to haul all of the materials for this project would currently have some difficulty making the journey all the way to Lombel. Knowing that this would be a problem, the village has banded together and has been manually widening the path between Lombel and the commercial center of Fongolimbi in order to allow it to fit a large truck. These people are extremely excited about this project.  It should completely eliminate the need to practice open defecation for a long time to come.

Fundraising Goal
$1,000

Donations Collected to Date
$70

Dollar Amount Needed
$930


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.