Jamaica

Community Description
Aeolus Valley All Age School is a small rural school nestled in the valleys of the Blue Mountain foothills. The school is approximately seven miles from Yallahs, St. Thomas, and twenty five miles from Kingston.

The school serves eleven surrounding communities, which include: Scotland Gate, Sam’s Mountain, Aeolus Valley, Swamp District, Lloyds, Bransbury District, Logwood, Hampstead, New Land, Yallahs, and Pondside.

The school population is comprised of 194 students: 127 boys and 67 girls across grades one through nine. The school employs eight teachers, one guidance counselor and one acting principal.

The school compound consists of three classroom blocks, one principal’s cottage, one canteen, one water tank, and two new flush toilets. The top block contains grades one through three, the middle block contains grades four through six, and the bottom block contains grades seven and grade eight/nine.

Most of the children who attend the school come from families involved in agriculture and quarrying. The majority of the students come from a low socio-economic status. As such, approximately fifty percent of the student body is on the Ministry sponsored PATH Programme and receive free lunch on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Three times per week, students receive a free and nutritious breakfast through the Heart of a Child Foundation. Funding for the organization comes from alumni of the school and other generous benefactors.

Aeolus Valley All Age is one of the oldest schools in the area, having been founded in 1926. Yet, its progress has been slow during recent years.

The school was able to install two new flush bathrooms for its students with help from Food for the Poor. However, the students have not been able to use the bathrooms, as there was not a connection to a water supply.

The students are presently forced to revert back to the use of the old pit latrines and one deteriorating pipe for hand washing.

Project Description
This project is to do the work necessary to bring water to the school bathrooms.

A pump will be purchased and installed and connected by piping to the existing storage tank. This will finally allow the students to use their newly installed bathroom

Project Impact
The entire school, consisting of 194 students and 10 faculty members, will benefit from this project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Danielle Porreca

Comments
Upon completion of the project, there will be usable flush toilets and new sinks. The improved sanitation will greatly improve the health conditions at the school.

For a relatively small amount of money, this project adheres to the Appropriate Project standards, which call for utilizing existing improvements and “making them work”.

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 Danielle Porreca of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Danielle and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Jamaica.

Community Description
Redlight is located about 20 km from, and 3,000 vertical feet above, the capital of Kingston. Residents travel to Kingston for medical facilities, banks and markets.

Redlight largely makes its income through farming, coffee production and tourism that utilizes its unique location nestled in the scenic Blue Mountains. Close proximity to Kingston offers access job and schooling opportunities.

Redlight is one of three adjoining communities, which include Middleton to the north and Irish Town to the south, with a population of about 3,000.

The communities have long expressed a desire for community improvement. A spirit of volunteerism is ingrained in the community members, as exemplified by the many collaborative groups striving to further social and educational development. These include a farmers group, learning centre, sports clubs and a senior citizens dance troupe.

Ena's Haven is a not for profit community providing services at a 10 acre pasture located 2 kilometers from the main road running through the three adjoining communities.

Ena’s Haven provides Hippotherapy and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) to children from all over Jamaica. Hippotherapy is a technique that employs the movement of a horse to stimulate muscle and brain development in autistic children.

Ena's Haven uses EAP to promote leadership and problem solving ability development in at-risk youths. These youngsters are able to work with the horses in these therapy sessions in a remote setting

Public facilities are not available to the children or parents that attend the sessions, and many times sessions are interrupted to allow for restroom needs.

Project Description
This project will provide public restroom facilities at Ena’s Haven.

Two separate restrooms will be constructed, one for males and one for females, built to accomodate special needs children. They will be soak pit latrines, constructed of block to withstand the harsh hurricane weather Jamaica endures.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 100 at-risk youths, 30 children (including autistic children and those with muscular/motor function disabilities), 50 parents, and 20 staff (including physical therapists and psychotherapists).

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Emily Van Mourick

Comments
This is a needed project for an under-served segment of the population that receives substantial benefit from the services provided by this facility.

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

Community Description
Stonehenge is a very remote community that once was a major stop on the railway line that connected Jamaica’s capitol Kingston with Montego Bay. When the train line was decommissioned in 1993 Stonehenge’s economy was devastated. Today, the majority of the remaining Stonehenge residents are small scale farmers and wood carvers who live well below the poverty line.

Stonehenge is blessed with many springs that dot the hillsides and infrastructure to supply water to its residents. However, the local pump only supplies water once every two weeks and the springs are located in thick brush and jungle that makes accessing them difficult.

To cope with these difficulties residents have saved and invested large portions of their low incomes for large water tanks to harvest rainwater and to store the piped water.

Unfortunately, because many residents don’t pay for their piped water and cannot afford the necessary lock off devices they leave their water taps always open so they do not miss the opportunity to fill their tanks. This causes large volumes of piped water to overflow when tanks are full. Furthermore, water often does not reach several outlying homes.

In addition, the students of Orange Hill All Age School often have no drinking water, no water to wash their hands, and no lunch because there is no water to cook meals. Students are sometimes sent home when they need to use the bathroom.

Project Description
This project will double the water storage capacity at the Orange Hill All Age School, and also improve the management of water in the community.

First, Orange Hill All Age School will double the size of its current water storage capacity with a 1,000 gallon tank. This will ensure that students have drinking and cooking water during times that water is not pumped.

Second, with the donated labor of the community, Orange Hill All Age School will relay PVC pipe so that harvested rain water is used to flush the schools toilets thus conserving limited piped water.

Third, float style water lock off valves (like in a toilet) will be installed in water storage tanks at the school and the homes of 10 needy residents who do not pay for their water. This measure will increase awareness of the importance of conserving water, increase the length of time water is in the pipe, increase the distance water can be pumped, and ensure that residents do not miss the opportunity to fill their tanks.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 79 students, 5 school staff members and 200 households.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Gavin Finnegan

Comments
The lack of a reliable source of water at Orange Hill All Age School has been a major health and safety concern. In addition, the current system has caused water to be wasted and many households to remain unserved. This comprehensive project arose from the needs of the community, and addresses all of the outstanding water issues.

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 Gavin Finnegan of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Gavin and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Jamaica.

Community Description
Warsop is a small community in the rural area of Trelawny, Jamaica. People in the area mainly subsist by farming for themselves and selling crops at markets in the nearest cities of Christiana and Falmouth. This area of Jamaica is famous for its yam crops, but products such as potato, cabbage, banana, lettuce, and other crops are also produced in the area.

Warsop is located in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, known as the "cockpit country". This area is one of the more remote and sparsely populated areas of Jamaica, which means that the amount of government services is much lower than in other areas.

The nearest hospitals to the area are in Mandeville and Falmouth, over an hour away, and there are few private doctors in the area.

Project Description
This project is to install a chlorination device to purify the water used at the Warsop Health Center.

Currently, the clinic catches rain water for all of its water needs. The rain water is pumped from a concrete catchment tank to a storage tank that is positioned above the health center to provide water pressure in the center.

A chlorination device will be placed on the pipe between the catchment tank and the storage tank. This will allow for easy, automatic chlorination of the water using chlorine tablets, which the Trelawny Health Department already has in supply.

Chlorine residual test kits will be purchased and used to calibrate and verify the chlorination of the water and the chlorination device.

Chlorinating the water at this health center is important, because the clinic serves the sick, elderly, and pregnant, all of whom are at high vulnerability for water-borne illness.

Project Impact
The Warsop Health Center serves about 6,000 people who will directly benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jerome Drescher

Comments
Local health centers fill a vital role in providing medical care in rural communities such as Warsop. Clean water is essential for the delivery of health care by these centers.

The simple solution provided by this project is extremely cost-effective. Quality control is built into the process, making it simple to operate and maintain, and therefore sustainable.

This project is similar to a project previously done by PVC Jerome Drescher, the Stettin Health Center Water Project - Jamaica, so the effectiveness of the design is proven.

Dollar Amount of Project
$490.00

Donations Collected to Date
$490.00

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 Jerome Drescher of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Jerome and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Jamaica.

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