This project has been completed under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Christopher Donnelly.
To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
The project was to drill a new well for the students and faculty to provide water to use for drinking, flushing toilettes and hand washing.
Christopher reports:
I am happy to inform you that the Wat Tmai Primary School Well was completed successfully.
It took four days to complete, including two days of drilling. The area is difficult to drill in and greater depths were needed to find clean water, as I had suspected. The well was drilled near the existing broken well to a depth of over 45 meters (approximately 47) as planned.
The cement base and drainage was completed with success.
The school director and local community went above and beyond in finding funds to create a hand-washing station next to the well. It is attractive and will serve the school and its students well.
The majority of funds were spent on the pump, the remainder being used to pay for the pipes, wellhead, and the services of the drillers. I made all purchases to ensure the money was spent well.
On the first day, the school director met me in Svay Rieng town to purchase the pump and wellhead, and then we returned to the school to meet the drillers. They drilled in several locations and depths until the best location was found and a deeper depth was reached.
The cement was purchased with the funds raised by the faculty and community. The cement work was done on the third and fourth days of the project, mostly by the school faculty. The faculty and some students were present all four days of construction and helped wherever they could.
The well and hand-washing station make an excellent model for the other schools in the district. Classes begin again in the month of October and the school director assured me that both the well and the hand-washing station will be used every day by the students. I will, of course, return to the school to teach about hygiene and observe the use of the well.
The well and hand-washing station will be named after the Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College, as they have generously donated all the funds for the well to be completed. The school director would like to build a sign near the well this October to thank the girls of Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College.
The well is functional and the water is safe. The students, who start school next month, will have a new working well for their toilettes and water filters, in addition to a place to easily wash their hands.
Thank you again for your support of this project and your support for Peace Corps Volunteers worldwide.
We are grateful to Christopher for completing this excellent project, and join him in thanking the Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College, of Canterbury, Victoria, Australia, for providing the funding.
