Appropriate Projects

Community Description
St. Thomas Primary school has 400 children but the surrounding population is close to 5,000 people. Located on the outskirts of Ol'Kalou town, the families generally are made up of subsistence farmers.

The majority of students are from the Kikuyu tribe and their parents make most of their income through cash crops. However, some families have business backgrounds and own small shops in the Ol'Kalou town center.

While the rainy season in Ol'Kalou is typically long and prosperous, the families have still not installed any rainwater catchment systems. Instead they catch water from shallow wells that are not maintained by health standards, or they fetch water from stagnant ponds. The main health- related illness for children in the village is diarrhea.

Problem Addressed
The school lacks water to serve the needs of students and faculty.

Project Description
This project is to build a rainwater catchment system at the St. Thomas Primary School.

The community has already laid the cement foundation for the tank and installed rain gutters on the roof of the school in anticipation of assistance with the purchase of the tank.

A 5,000 liter tank will be purchased at the Rasta supermarket and transported to the school. Piping will then be installed from the gutters to the tank.

Water Charity funds will be used to purchase and transport the tank.

Project Impact
The project will benefit 400 primary school children, 10 teachers, and 1 headmaster.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Brittany Werkheiser

Comments
The system will provide safe water for the school during the entire year.

The project has an unprecedented amount of community support, with the cooperation of local businesses, as demonstrated by the initiative in implementing the project with their own resources. This has led to a substantial system, with a larger tank than would have been otherwise possible.

The local support ensures that the system will be maintained in the future.

Brittany previously completed the Kidumfa Primary School Rainwater Catchment Project – Kenya and the Huhuini Primary School Rainwater Catchment Project – Kenya.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$0.00

ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT NEEDED BELOW

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you "naming rights", if that is something you would like.

Any contributions in excess of the Dollar Amount of Project will be allocated to other projects directed by this PCV and/or projects of other PCVs in this country.

Dollar Amount Needed
$555.00

Community Description
Sdao has existed for about 20 years and the area was one of the fronts during the civil war in the 1990s.

Esidarie Primary School is located in Rattanak Mundol District which is in the northwest corner of Battambang, Cambodia. The district is 40 kilometers away from the second largest city in Cambodia. Rattanak Mundol has 23 widespread villages located from the local primary school along the national highway.

The school has a growing population of 550 students and 20 staff members.

Problem Addressed
Only two latrines are available for the students at the school, with only three of the current squat toilets currently functional.

Project Description
This project is to build a set of latrines at the school.

Two new squat toilets will be located in a stand-alone building 30 meters behind the school. The building will be divided in two, with one section for boys and the other for girls.

The latrine building will be constructed from bricks covered with stucco and covered with an aluminum roof. Ventilated concrete, common in Cambodia, will be used for the toilet, and two doors will be made from wood for the separate squat toilets. The interior floor and bottom section of the walls will be made from ceramic tiles.

Water for the bathrooms will be provided from cisterns that collect rain water.

Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the materials, including brick, ceramic tiles, wood, and aluminum.

Skilled labor will be done by a local contractor contacted by the school director. Unskilled labor, such as clearing space for the bathroom and digging, will be done by students and staff.

Ongoing maintenance will be provided by the school, overseen by the school director and other staff members.

Project Impact
550 students, plus 20 staff members and food vendors who use the bathrooms daily, will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Nicholas Branch

Comments
The additional facility will help with sanitation for the school that continues to gain students year after year.

The project is well-supported by the school and community, with people lined up to provide labor and financial assistance.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$100.00

ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT NEEDED BELOW

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you "naming rights", if that is something you would like.

Any contributions in excess of the Dollar Amount of Project will be allocated to other projects directed by this PCV and/or projects of other PCVs in this country.

Dollar Amount Needed
$455.00

Community Description
Nyamanga is a small village nestled along the shores of Lake Victoria, 6 km from the area market town of Sori, lying within the larger region of Karungu Division, Kenya. It is quite scenic due to the lake and the surrounding hills, but also quite isolated.

A two hour drive along a very rough road leads to the nearest tarmac and larger towns of Migori or Homa Bay. Like most lakeside communities, Nyamanga is primarily a fishing village, but small scale agriculture is also a primary source of income for many of the inhabitants.

Problem Addressed
Typhoid, cholera, and other sanitation-related diseases are common in the region. Many people suffer from diarrhea and related complications which can be life threatening.

The schools and the health facility located in Nyamanga all have rain catchment tanks to provide a clean water source. However, there are no places for hand washing.

Handwashing stations in schools and in health facilities are essential for promoting sanitation in the community. First they increase hygiene levels of those using them, but also stand as examples of what good health behaviors look like to the community.

Project Description
This project is to provide handwashing stations at the local health clinic and 4 nearby schools.

A handwashing station consists of a 20-liter container with a tap at the bottom and a screw top opening for refilling. The container sits on a metal stand that also holds a basin to catch the waste water, and a space to set the soap.

The stations will be placed in locations close to the latrines, and also where they can be securely fastened to prevent theft.

The project is being implemented by the Nyamanga Dispensary, which will be responsible for installation, upkeep, and maintenance.

Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the containers, taps, stands, and basins.

Informational sessions will be conducted with the students on the importance of the use of the stations. Posters will be placed near the latrines and above the stations reminding people of their proper use.

Project Impact
600 people will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Elise Wojcik

Comments
This is a very modest project that will have a wide impact on the hygiene of the community.

Elise previously completed the Nyamanga Dispensary Rainwater Harvesting Project – Kenya.

Dollar Amount of Project
$260.00

Donations Collected to Date
$0.00

ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT NEEDED BELOW

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you "naming rights", if that is something you would like.

Any contributions in excess of the Dollar Amount of Project will be allocated to other projects directed by this PCV and/or projects of other PCVs in this country.

Dollar Amount Needed
$260.00

Community Description
Russey village is a small, rural village in northeastern Kampot Province in Cambodia, with a population of approximately 1,000 residents. The village is located 4 kilometers east of the Angkor Chey district town of Tani, 70 kilometers northeast of the provincial town of Kampot, and 110 kilometers south of the national capital of Phnom Penh. The village is also about 4 kilometers east of Highway 31, the closest secondary national road.

The majority of families that live in Russey village survive by farming rice and on subsistence agriculture.

Serey Songkhum Primary School is the only primary school located within Russey village. The school has 8 full-time teachers, and it serves 110 students in grades 1 through 6. Due to the high birth rate in Russey village, which is similar to that in the rest of Cambodia, the enrollment at Serey Songkhum Primary School is expected to increase by approximately 5% annually over the coming years.

Serey Songkhum Primary School is directly adjacent to the Serey Songkhum Pagoda. Four monks reside within the pagoda. Three to four times a month, over 60 village residents go to the pagoda for religious celebrations. During major holidays and religious festivals, which occur four times a year, over 500 people gather at the pagoda.

Problem Addressed
Currently, Serey Songkhum Primary School has two 500-gallon water storage cisterns to serve the entire student population at the school. Currently, water is collected from a pond and an unconnected water cisterns on the school’s and pagoda’s grounds.

Due to the limited facilities that exist presently, and because of the increasing need for more facilities based on the expected increase in student enrollment, there is an evident need for additional rainwater storage facilities.

Project Description
This project is to expand the water storage capacity at Serey Songkhum Primary School and Pagoda by building a new rainwater storage system at the school to serve the primary school students, school staff, resident monks, and visitors to the pagoda.

The tanks will be made from readily-available one-meter-diameter concrete pipe sections stacked on top of one another on a poured concrete foundation. (These concrete pipe sections are also used to build latrine tanks in the area and can be bought cheaply and easily.) The joints of the concrete pipes will be grouted, and the interior of the concrete pipe sections will be sealed to make waterproof tanks.

PVC piping will connect the tanks together so that they form a single system. These tanks will be fed by supply pipes linked to the rain gutters of the pagoda building. They will feed a system of small-diameter PVC piping that will run to latrines and handwashing stations that need water.

Six water tanks will be built. The rings will be 1 meter in diameter and 60 cm tall. Five of them will be stacked, making individual tanks that are 3 meters tall.

The total capacity of the system will be just under 15 cubic-meters (15,000 liters). The design accomplishes the specific purpose of supplying water pressure to the delivery piping that feeds the latrines and handwashing stations.

The primary purpose of this water storage system is to supply two proximate latrines with water for flushing toilets and for washing hands. However, if it is needed for drinking water it will be treated.

This type of system has proven effective in the past, and has already been installed at a few primary schools in Angkor Chey District by The Buddhist Library Project.

Construction of the cement foundation and concrete rings will be completed by village resident who are skilled laborers. They will use readily-available local materials. The remaining unskilled, manual labor will be performed by school staff, monks from the pagoda, and local community members. Water Charity funds will be used to pay the skilled contractors and to purchase the building materials, including cement, sand, concrete pipe sections, waterproof sealant, PVC piping, and rain gutters.

The head monk at Serey Songkhum Pagoda requested this project for the primary school and pagoda. He will oversee much of the construction, and will provide maintenance and repair in the future. The pagoda also will pay any additional amount of money necessary to complete this project.

Project Impact
Over 620 people will directly benefit from this project including 110 primary school students, 8 school staff members, 4 resident monks, and 500+ community members who attend functions at the school and pagoda.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Gregory Cera

Comments
This is an important project to provide for the water needs of the school.

Gregory previously completed the Serey Songkhum Wat and Primary School Latrine Project – Cambodia.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$75.00

ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT NEEDED BELOW

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you "naming rights", if that is something you would like.

Any contributions in excess of the Dollar Amount of Project will be allocated to other projects directed by this PCV and/or projects of other PCVs in this country.

Dollar Amount Needed
$480.00

The project was to build two bathrooms and a wash area at the Youth Café & Learning Center.

Gus reports:

I wanted to report back to Appropriate Projects to let you know Georgian Youth for Europe (GYE) and I successfully completed our bathroom and washroom renovation. The renovation was much needed, as you can see from the before pictures.

Our professional plumbers installed the four needed water lines that ran into each of the bathroom's toilets and sink. The new water lines now allow for both hot and cold water to be run into the cafe section of the building. The plumbers also installed drain lines that connect from the toilets and sink into the outside tank.

With the completion of the new bathrooms, the new Georgian Youth for Europe Cafe & Learning Center now have adequate sanitation facilities.

GYE aims to reach at least 100 youth participants in the first year of the cafe and learning center project. This will increase training and club activity, which is much needed in the Rustavi community.

The community and organization are very thankful for the donated funds through Appropriate projects.

We are grateful to Gus for the timely completion of this project.

Community Description
The Njabini community is located 8,000 feet high in the Aberdare Mountain Range. It is two hours from the capital city of Nairobi, and is the source of water and much of the food that is transported there.

Despite the fact that the area receives more rainfall than much of the country, the majority of the population does not have access to clean water, as the means of effectively catching and storing rainwater are severely lacking.

Problem Addressed
Kioneki Primary School is a young school, started only five years ago. Since its inception, the student population has steadily been increasing, from 130 students to the current 461 students. The staff consists of 14 teachers, the headmaster, and the deputy headmaster.

The school was partially funded by the government, but before completion, funding was terminated, leaving classrooms half-built, no staff offices, and no means of water collection for the students and staff.

Project Description
This project is to build a rainwater catchment system at the school.

The system will include a 10,000-liter water tank, gutters along the roof of the school building, and piping from the roof to the tank.

Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the tank, roof gutters, piping, and gutter hooks. Cement and ballast will also be purchased to build the base.

Stones, sand, and mesh will be provided by parents and staff of the school.

The members of Beautify Aberdare and the parents of the students will provide all of the necessary labor.

Project Impact
About 480 people will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jennifer Navala

Comments
This is an important project that will improve the health and wellbeing of students and staff. It will provide needed water for drinking, cooking, and sanitation.

Jennifer previously completed the Njabini Youth Centre Rainwater Catchment Project - Kenya.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$0.00

ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT NEEDED BELOW

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you "naming rights", if that is something you would like.

Any contributions in excess of the Dollar Amount of Project will be allocated to other projects directed by this PCV and/or projects of other PCVs in this country.

Dollar Amount Needed
$555.00

The project was to improve the quality of the drinking water by installing a 5-stage reverse osmosis water filter.

Bryna reports:

Pushkina Secondary School has completed their water project and as a result, they now have clean, delicious, odor-free drinking water for everyone who enters the building.

After ordering and purchasing necessary materials from the nearby town, the school maintenance workers installed the new filter and a new sink basin. They then made all necessary electrical and plumbing connections to supply this water to the two nearby basins, outfitted with drinking fountains for easy and comfortable access to drinking water. They also installed and connected a spigot in the kitchen for use in cooking. Finally, they built a protective box around the filter, complete with a lock to prevent tampering from curious children.

The director of the school and the village mayor are thrilled with the results and impressed that the filter was able to completely eliminate the poor color, taste and smell of the water. The school cooks also reported improved quality in the food available to children and staff as a result of the filter.

Thank you so much for your support in this project!

We are grateful to Bryna for completing this project.