Appropriate Projects

Community Description
The village of Bantanding-Tukulor is located in the North Bank near the border with Senegal. It is a farming village with 35 compounds housing about 200 people.

The people of the village grow coos, groundnut, and corn. They also plant cashews and mangoes. They have recently joined a tree planting project in the Jokadu area and have two nurseries for live fence and other species.

The village had two hand pumps, but both are in disrepair. The first is being repaired under the Bantanding-Tukulor Pump #1 Project - The Gambia, undertaken previously.

Regarding Pump #2, the cement cover has been removed, and the pump has been completely dismantled so that the village can draw water by hand.

Project Description
This project is to restore Pump #2 to full operation by making the necessary repairs, and to replace the cement wall around the pump.

Project Impact
This project will benefit the 200 people in the village who rely on this pump.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Suzanne Brewer

Comments
This repair and improvement of the second pump in the village restores reasonable water access to the community. It saves the villagers from having to go to the next town to retrieve water for daily use.

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 Six Senses Resorts & Spas 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 Suzanne Brewer of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Suzanne and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in The Gambia.

Community Description
Norio is a village of about 4,500 people located 45 minutes to the northeast of Tbilisi. It is an agrarian community where about half of the inhabitants are farmers growing vegetables and tending small herds of livestock. There are five small shops selling food and household items, one butcher, and two bakeries, but no other businesses in the village.

Norio has intermittent running water, fed by springs, to about half of the village. Now the village government is in the process of running water lines to the other half of the village, which will include a spur that will feed the local school. Unfortunately, the school falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science which does not have the funds to do the work at the school necessary for water to be available year-round.

Norio has one public school that serves all of Norio's children, approximately 470 children total.

Project Description
This project will provide a system to enable the school to collect and store water from the village water lines for use by the students throughout the year.

A 500 liter cistern with float cutoff, a pump, and connecting pipes, will be purchased and installed. Heat-retaining blankets will be placed on the cistern to prevent winter freezing and possible breakage.

In addition to the installation of the system, presentations will be given to the students about water sanitation, and general hygiene.

Project Impact
470 students and 70 teachers will directly benefit from the project. The remaining 4,000 community member will indirectly benefit from occasional use of the facilities.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Kyle Mueller

Comments
This project will make water available for the use of the school year-round, by giving the school control of its own water supply. This will have an immediate impact on the health and hygiene of the students and faculty.

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 Six Senses Resorts & Spas 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 Kyle Mueller of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Kyle and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Georgia.

Community Description
Las Pampas in a small rural community settled in the northern district of Olmos in Lambayeque. It currently does not have electricity (it is projected to be installed by the end of the year) and all houses depend on their own wells for water.

There is a local primary and secondary school, a locally elected governor and several government-sponsored organizations. The population is under 1,000 inhabitants.

The community is located 10 kilometers from the town of Olmos making it difficult (and costly) to find work outside of manual labor in the nearby fields. For this, the local population has little means of income outside of small animal husbandry and subsistence farming. One of the only other options is the promotion of conservation and eco-tourism.

Las Pampas is home to one of the best animal refuges in Peru, Crax 2000, dedicated to conservation and the re-introduction of critically endangered species. The animal refuge is managed by locals and currently produces a small income,

The refuge is made up of two parts. One focused on various bird species, including the White Winged Guan, and serves as a breeding center with the objective of reintroduction and salvation of critically endangered species.

The other part of the refuge is for rescued animals, recovered by the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA). These animals are often wild animals that have been recovered from circuses, markets, and private citizens and are often too domesticated or ill to be reintroduced. They will live at the refuge, being taken care of by the biologist and local workers.

Crax 2000 itself is a community center, used by school groups, local organizations and tourists to learn about animal conservation and reintroduction, complete studies based on these animals, and have environmentally themed meetings and events.

There is no water available at the refuge to properly support the influx of tourism, the workers who live there and the continued conservation of the White Winged Guan.

Currently, the refuge has to buy water from the district municipality that brings it in a large truck, costing $80 weekly and all food has to be bought in local markets, costing more than the refuge makes from the donations by visitors. At that it barely provides sufficient fresh drinking water to the workers and animals.

Without water the center is unable to maintain a vegetable and fruit garden that would drastically lower their maintenance cost for feeding the animals.

Currently visitors to the center help feed the animals and learn about the important conservation work that they do. However, there are no handwashing stations, functional bathrooms (the bathrooms are already built but lack a water connection) or rest areas with drinkable water in the entire center.

Project Description
This project is to improve the sanitation and general health of the refuge and its user groups by providing crucial components to supplement the equipment and materials on hand.

Crax 2000 already has a water pump, a cemented well and the tubes to connect to it, but they lack the funds to purchase a motor to complete the system.

The installation of a motor will provide water for the workers who live there, for the tourists (with hand washing stations, bathrooms and installation in the guest bungalows), for the fruit plants and vegetable gardens that the refuge has for its animals, and for the animals themselves.

Project Impact
The improvements will allow a fourfold increase of the current number of people served at the refuge, raising it to over 20,000 visitors per year.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Lisa Melendy

Comments
The simple improvements that will be accomplished will have a major impact on the community and the refuge by allowing the refuge to operate in a sanitary manner and live up to its full potential.

The refuge benefits the community by diversifying employment opportunities. In addition to the impact on the wildlife, the refuge creates an important teaching opportunity for visitors to learn about wildlife conservation.

Dollar Amount of Project
$475.00

Donations Collected to Date
$475.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has now been fully funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative, with the help of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Lisa Melendy.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Lisa of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Lisa and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Peru.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.

Community Description
Nkurenkuru is a growing but still small rural town, 140 km west of Rundu in the Kavango region, northeastern Namibia. It was recently awarded “town” status by the government, and has roughly 9,000 residents.

There are a number of government buildings, a petrol station, 3 small grocery stores and other assorted goods shops.

The community consists of poor rural families. They are subsistence farmers with as many as 5-10 children in one household, some of whom they can afford to send to school. Within each household there are unemployed/underemployed out-of-school youth.

Although the national water company is present in Nkurenkuru, most families cannot afford a water hookup, or they live too far away for hookups to be available.

All of these families drink water daily from the local river. This river has cows, donkeys, and goats feeding around it and drinking from it. It is contaminated with their feces and Bilharzia (parasite), among other microscopic contaminants.

The people get diarrhea, upset stomach, and parasites throughout the year. If you ask one about sickness they will say, “Ah us we are used!”

Beyond this Namibia has a 19% HIV/AIDS infection rate, with a 22% rate in the Kavango region. This means that many people in the community have HIV/AIDS, and drinking unclean water adds to the list of possible opportunistic infections and diseases.

Project Description
This project is to develop a capacity in the community to produce bio-sand filters, begin to produce them on an ongoing basis, and proliferate their use.

The project will start with a public awareness campaign, conducted by the local town council and constituency council. Its purpose will be to introduce the technology and raise an understanding of the impact that the filters can have in reducing waterborne illness.

Families will be given the opportunity to participate if they agree to a set of prerequisites. In addition to building their own filters, each family will be required to supply one worker to help in the construction of all the filters. They will also have to participate in the education and training program.

Beyond this there will be a team of 2-3 workers, unpaid volunteers, who will learn how to build the mold and construct the filters. These will eventually constitute a core of trained people with the capacity to continue to build additional filters.

The project will construct 1 or 2 wooden molds and produce as many filters as possible. The goal will be to produce at least 20 filters to start.

Project funds will be used to purchase wood and screws for the construction of the bio-sand filter mold, wire mesh and wood for sieve construction, PVC/plastic piping for filter construction, lubricant for cement/mold barrier, plastic bowls for filter diffuser plate, and cement for filter construction.

A short survey will be conducted to investigate the number, type, and frequency of water-borne illnesses in participating families.

Project family training will be conducted with each family at their homestead after they have received their filter.

A follow-up study will be conducted with each family group after a period of months to observe the initial effectiveness of the filter in preventing water-borne illnesses.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 250 people within 4 months of initiation, and will continue to serve others into the future.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Caleb Stephens

Comments
This is a demonstration project that will not only produce substantial immediate results but will also teach a vital technology and institute an important public health value in the community.

These filters will rid the water consumed by participating families of bacteria and provide the people with a better standard of living. It will have the greatest impact on those with impaired immune systems, such as people living with HIV/AIDS.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

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
$500.00