Mouye Well Project – Senegal

This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION.

Location
Mouye, Katiout community, Region of Kaffrine, Senegal
Community Description
A small farming village of fewer than 400 people.
Problem Addressed
The problem is access to water for growing essential food crops during the cold dry and hot dry seasons. To empower a local woman’s group in an area exhausted by peanut cultivation, they need a well.
Project Description
The well will be built on a former peanut field that the women have guaranteed access to.

      SPECIFICS:
      The well will be 27 meters deep. It will be hand-dug by a professional in the region (Baba Njay) for the cost of 440 American dollars. It will be a very basic well.
      The mason’s labor will be 300 American dollars (We got a lower price because the community is volunteering time and labor. The mason will operate as a skilled foreman, directing the community workers while also doing the more technical aspects himself).
      Materials needed include:
      40 bags of cement: 207 American dollars 3 truckloads of sand: The community has agreed to pay for the sand (52 American dollars)

Project Impact

The women’s group and their families.  Approximately 66 people.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Justin Mattison
Monitoring and Maintenance
Monitoring and maintenance will be handled by the Mouye Women’s Group. and they will be responsible for any future repairs or improvements.
Comments
Peanut farming in the Kafrrine region of Senegal has slowly destroyed the soil since its introduction during colonization. Now, with most farmers continuing harmful practices, families can barely produce enough peanuts to survive. Most years they operate at a deficit. The desert is creeping steadily down from the north, and most farmers are inviting it to come faster with their exploitative and unsustainable farming techniques.
The women’s group has found a more environmentally friendly way of farming market vegetables on a small piece of property that often makes more money than their husbands’ large peanut fields.
The Agroforestry king in the area, who has already turned 2 hectares of land into a Mango plantation complete with live fencing, tree wind-breaks, cashew fire-breaks, and nitrogen-fixing alley cropping is also progressive when it comes to woman’s empowerment. That’s why he donated his peanut field to the woman’s group and is helping them through the process of incorporating agroforestry technology into their already successful method. He is teaching them how to construct a live-fence out of thorny trees, take care of mango trees, and use certain trees for windbreaks, alley cropping, and fire breaks.
Dollar Amount of Project
$1,200
Donations Collected to Date
$227
Dollar Amount Needed
$973
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.

This project has been completed.  To read about the concussion, CLICK HERE.