Location
Sosnivka, Lvivska Oblast, Ukraine
Community Description
Sosnivka is a rural community of 11,000 inhabitants located in the Lvivska Oblast in western Ukraine. Sosnivka and the surrounding area have been identified as an “ecological disaster” area due to the coal mines, which are still in operation in the town. Details can be read at:
Charity Organization “Eco-Mercy” was originally established to address the youth health problems stemming from this environmental damage. The studies conducted in this area show that youth have premature bone disease due to the pollutants in the water. Over ten years of operation, Eco-Mercy has established a variety of programs to “help youth grow up healthy”. One of these programs is a Children’s Charity Dining Hall (or Youth Soup Kitchen) where youth-in-need are served a hot meal each day during the school year. Unfortunately, the soups, main meals, and drinks are made from the local tap water. The Youth Soup Kitchen is financially supported by Eco-Mercy’s social event business, which caters to approximately 100 members of the community each month for birthday parties, anniversaries or wakes. The water for these meals and drinks are also made with local tap water.
Project Description
This project is to purchase and install a water filter in the kitchen of the Charity Organization Eco-Mercy to provide clean cooking and drinking water for the Youth Soup Kitchen as well as support the Event Catering social business.
The project will also purchase a water testing kit to visually demonstrate the water quality and the importance of clean water. The results of the water testing will be displayed for the youth and community to see. Eco-Mercy has engaged the local newspaper to participate in the testing process and to include the results as well as recommendations for ‘clean water at home’ in a printed article. Eco-Mercy feels this educational component of the project is an important awareness step for both the youth and the community.
The selected water filter is the Aqua-Fortex DeLux with six stages of reverse osmosis, which removes 99% of all impurities including heavy metals, phosphates, and bacteria. The cartridges will clean 5,000 liters of water before needing replacement. Volunteers at Eco-Mercy will install the system at no charge, but some of the funds will be used to buy the necessary materials to install the system such as tubes and mounting brackets.
Following the installation and purchase of the first cartridges, Eco-Mercy will support further filter cartridge replacement through donations from the community. The Director of Eco-Mercy is extremely dedicated to ensuring that the children have continuing access to clean, safe water for consumption.
Project Impact
1,280 people per year will benefit from the project, including 40 soup-kitchen youth, 20 youth members, 20 volunteers, and 100 community members each month.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Catherine Duchock
Comments
The scientific evidence the effects of drinking tap water in the community is irrefutable. This simple and low-cost solution will achieve widespread impact in the reduction of pollutants, yielding measurable health results.
The educational component of the project will demonstrate the poor quality of the water and explain the detrimental effects of continued use, thus leading to changes in habits.
The commitment of Eco-Mercy to maintain the filter into the future demonstrates the sustainability of the project.
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 Catherine Duchock of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Catherine and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Ukraine.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.