Location
Pueblo Nuevo de Conta, District of Nuevo Imperial, Lima Region, Peru
Community Description
The district of Nuevo Imperial is located along the southern coast of Peru, about 140 km south of Lima. Specifically, the project will take place in the annex of Nuevo Conta de Roma, which is located about 20 minutes from the main city center of Nuevo Imperial and has a population of about 2,500.
The majority of the population works in agriculture and livestock and many live below the poverty line. In order to combat malnutrition, the local government has implemented two nationwide programs in the annex, called Comedor Popular and Vaso de Leche, which function daily out of a municipal building.
In the morning, the building functions as a Comedor Popular, serving a nutritious lunch to over 30 adults at little to no cost.
In the afternoon, the building functions as a Vaso de Leche, where children of all ages come to receive a free snack and a safe place to play until their parents return home from work. Currently, the Vaso de Leche receives about 40-50 children a day. All participants are registered by the state and confirmed that they are living below the poverty line.
Problem Addressed
The annex of Nuevo Conta de Roma is rapidly growing in population, which means that the number of children and adults requesting the services of Comedor Popular and Vaso de Leche is growing as well. Currently, there are no bathroom facilities in the building.
At this time, the facility only receives water twice a week, which the staff stores in large bins, to be used throughout the week. The bins are often left without lids allowing the water to be easily contaminated, with associated health ramifications.
The staff is very concerned about the health of the members and has requested training from the local health post on how to reduce illness and contamination in the food preparation process. It has been repeatedly suggested they purchase a large water tank to store their water more appropriately, but unfortunately do not have the financial means to do so.
Since 2012, the Municipality of Nuevo Imperial has worked on a project to put in water and sewer systems in the annex of Pueblo Nuevo de Conta. The project has recently been completed, and the building now can be connected to a reliable water source and sewer system.
Project Description
This project is to provide running water to and construct a functioning bathroom for, the facility housing two important community programs.
A wooden platform structure will be built to a height of 3 meters. A 600-liter tank will be purchased and placed on the structure.
An electrical pump will also be purchased to supply water to the tank. Appropriate piping will be installed to connect the pump and tank to the municipal water system.
The bathroom will be two by three meters and will contain a toilet and a sink. The walls of the bathroom will be constructed from the drywall and the floor will be made of cement.
The water tank will be connected to the toilet and sink.
Water Charity funds will pay for the electric pump, water tank, and its supporting structure, all of the bathroom fixtures (toilet, sink, and necessary piping), and the structure of the bathroom of itself.
The municipality will pay for the installation of the water tank and bathroom and connection to the local water system, along with the skilled labor of the plumber.
The municipality will also pay the electric bill each month for the electrical pump to function properly.
The members of Comedor Popular and Vaso de Leche will help with the manual labor of building the water tank structure and other installation work.
After construction, weekly training will be held with the members on themes such as hand washing, consumption of safe drinking water, trash management, and maintenance of the bathroom.
Project Impact
85 people, including 35 adults from the Comedor Popular, 40 children from the Vaso de Leche, and 10 staff members, will benefit from the project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Katherine Hanson
Monitoring and Maintenance
The staff members of Vaso de Leche will be responsible for the everyday maintenance of the bathrooms.
The building currently receives monthly visits by the municipality and bi-yearly visits by the national government to ensure that the programs are functioning properly and that there is no misuse of funding. These visits will continue and include monitoring on the new water system.
After all of the training are complete, random inspections by the Peace Corps volunteer will be made to ensure that the new installations are being maintained and the members are continuing to use them correctly and consistently.
The mothers of Vaso de Leche have also promised their support in reinforcing the good hygiene practices that will be stressed throughout the project.
Comments
This is an important infrastructure project that will provide significant improvement in the health and well-being of the community.
Dollar Amount of Project
$600.00
Donations Collected to Date
$600.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded through the generosity of Michael and Carla Boyle, of Nelsonville, OH, USA.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Katherine Hanson of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Katherine and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion, CLICK HERE.