This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION. 
Location
Madiana, Sami District, Central River Region, The Gambia
Community Description
Madiana is an ethnically Mandinka village of approximately 670 residents. Madiana is located six kilometers off the road in the bush of the Central River Region. The entire community makes their living off of subsistence farming and a tight-knit community of women who travel daily to the riverside gardens.
Problem Addressed
Currently, three hand pumps serve the 32 compounds, one having unsafe drinking water. Each day, starting early in the morning, the women and young girls line up at either of two pumps for upwards of an hour to fetch water. Being gardeners and farmers, the women leave to engage in their daily work outside of the age, leaving few to fetch water. Later in the afternoons, the women must again line up at the pumps to fetch the water needed for their families.
With approximately 200 women fetching water daily and only two safe hand pumps, it is impossible for families to access water in a timely manner. This leaves the women to have to wait for long periods of time, some even fetching water into the night.
Project Description
This project is to improve one of the boreholes by installing a new solar-powered pump, 4 solar panels, a 4,000 L water tank and metal tower, and a distribution system to 7 taps located throughout the village.
The project will be implemented under the direction of the Village Development Committee, Mother’s Club.
The work will be carried out by a local skilled technician. The community will provide local materials and unskilled labor.
Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the materials and pay for skilled labor.
Project Impact
670 people will benefit from the project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Tori Stevens
Monitoring and Maintenance
The PCV and counterpart will use the project logic model of intervention to monitor the implementation of the project activities and to track project performance. Similarly, the model will be used to evaluate the immediate outcomes of the project as well as the long-term impact. This will include monitoring school attendance rates, rates of diarrheal diseases, and the need for families to fetch water.
Sustainability of a clean water supply is the goal of this project. The PCV and the counterpart will further train the water committee members on basic financial administration and management procedures to ensure financial records are up to date and funds are available to pay for routine maintenance costs at all times.
Comments
Completion of this project will provide an ample supply of safe drinking water to the community, reduce waterborne illness, and enable young girls to extend their education.
Instead of two hand pumps serving 100 women daily, these taps will serve approximately 30 women for each tap. This will drastically reduce the time each woman spends fetching water daily.
Let Girls Learn
This project qualifies as a Let Girls Learn project because the goal is to provide more time for girls to attend school and spend more time studying due to a decrease in the amount of time it currently takes to fetch water. In addition, there will be higher rates of school attendance for both boys and girls because rates of diarrheal diseases will decrease, and improved health among all members of the community due to access to clean water for drinking and cooking.
Project Funding
Although the funds to get this project underway have been provided by an anonymous donor, we continue to accept donations so that we will have funds on hand for the next project in The Gambia. Please use this Donate button, and your donation will be attributed to this project and the Peace Corps Volunteer will be notified.
