Dobong Kunda School was the direct result of a Peace Corps volunteer working with the community to advocate with the Ministry on behalf of the community’s children.
Since its founding as a 3-classroom school in 2013, it has grown to an enrollment of 448 students in 6 grades. Of those, 263 are girls.
There are three wells at the school:
- A hand pump, which has cracked concrete and a failing cylinder, etc. Because the concrete apron has failed, groundwater seeps back in and makes the water unsafe to drink (but it is now being drunk because both electric pumps have failed).
- A borehole with 2,000-liter tank and electric pump funded some years ago by a Gambian living abroad. Because of a limited budget, an inferior pump motor was used, and it has failed. This pump provided drinking water, water for the school kitchen (where hot lunches were prepared), and water for the school’s garden.
- Next to the school, the Ministry of Agriculture built a community garden, with its own water tower and pump. This was also built with an inferior pump, which has completely failed. It is not clear who “owns” this pump and it will likely be complicated to do any repair to this installation.
With no water, the school turned to American friends of the school for help. They in turn contacted Water Charity for advice. Water Charity sent a technical team to the school, and recommends a comprehensive solution:
Use the borehole, tower, and water tanks currently installed at the school. Replace the broken pump with a Grundfos pump SQ-11 pump – the best on the market. Run lines to new taps at the kitchen, and at the boys and girls toilets. Make sure the tap at the school garden is working well. Run a new line from the school to the community garden next to the school.
The net result will be a water system for the school, its kitchen, toilets, and garden, as well as water for the community garden, which will then revive.
Total Cost: $3,785
If additional funds are raised, the broken hand pump will be repaired as well.
Here’s a video of 4 girls from the school asking for help:
