El Salvador

Location
Caserio El Alto del Aguacate, Canton Corralito, Municipio de Corinto, Departamento de Morazan, El Salvador, Central America

Community Description
El Alto del Aguacate is a beautiful rural community of 601 people, filled with pine trees and nestled atop a mountain ridge in northeast El Salvador. The community lacks job opportunities, resources, and land for local campesinos.

This project will be done at the local school, Centro Escolar El Alto del Aguacate, which has 4 ½ classrooms. The school serves El Alto del Aguacate and the surrounding communities. There are 324 students attending, grades kindergarten through 8th grade. However, the school lacks water.

Project Description
This project is to dig a well and construct a holding tank. A water study was done by the school board, and water was found to exist at a depth of about 9 meters

The work will be done by three local well diggers, fathers of school children, who are volunteering their labor.

Project funds will be used only for the cost of materials.

Project Impact
324 students and 150 nearby community members will directly benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Mark Gruen

Comments
This is a great project, which provides a water source for a school and the surrounding community for less than one dollar per person!

The project was originated by the school board, and has strong community support, thus ensuring sustainability.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$500.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has 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 Mark Gruen of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Mark and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in El Salvador.

Location
San Antonio, El Triunfo, Usulutan, El Salvador

Community Description
Canton San Antonio is located 7 Km north of its municipality center El Triunfo in the northern zone of the department of Usulután. A 2007 census reported 890 residents in approximately 115 families.

The canton has an 80% graduation rate from the local public school of 9 grades. Half receive a 3 year high school degree, and less than 20% pursue college. Very few individuals pursue technical crafts outside of agriculture.

San Antonio is on a fairly well traveled road which connects El Triunfo to Sasorí. The canton has above average access to transportation. The majority of the houses have direct vehicle access, and public busses pass every hour.

95% of the community has electricity and access to mail. As there is no phone line, the majority of residents use cellular phones. 80% of residents own titles for their land.

In addition to river water, the canton has access to natural springs which supply the majority of water for drinking and washing. 25% of the residents are connected to a small gravity-fed chlorinated system, but the water is not used for drinking.

San Antonio, like many other rural communities in El Salvador, has a rainy season and a dry season. During the rainy season (May-Oct) farmers are actively growing and harvesting crops to sell in the markets and to feed their families.

Crop diversity is low due to time, temperature, and weather constraints. The majority of crop grown are beans and corn. During the dry season (Nov-April) there is no work, no crops, and the families are completely dependant on the income and stored crop from the previous rainy season to survive until the next rainy season.

Another problem is the overuse and dependence on chemical fertilizers and insecticides. The prices of these chemical fertilizers are drastically increasing leaving poor farmers behind without alternative organic techniques.

Runoff from the chemically treated fields penetrates into the water systems and cause sicknesses in the communities. Fertile soils are being replaced by chemical supplements which add to the country’s growing erosion problems as well.

Project Description
This project is to build 3 aquaponics systems. It is a natural extension of a prior project in which community members were trained in the technology, and a model system was built to demonstrate its benefits.

PCV Rosenfeld describes the technology as follows:

Aquaponics is a new and innovative farming technique that combines agriculture with aquaculture. In this system there is a fish tank that contains Tilapia and a pump that pumps water into grow beds filled with volcanic rocks and plants. These grow beds have a flash drain (like a toilet) so they completely fill and empty every 15 minutes.

The process is that the fish create manure that is pumped to the grow beds where bacteria break down the manure into nitrates which the plants then absorb. Thus, the fish receive clean, aerated water and the plants receive nutrients. Since the system cycles, there is no need for additional water, except to replace what evaporates. The benefit in this country is that this system allows farmers to farm organically year round.

With the project funds, 3 submersible pumps, PCV tubing, 300 lbs of fish food, and 4,000 fish will be purchased. This will be sufficient to get the farmers started, and the system will become sustainable with the funds derived from the output.

A cooperative was started to assist and encourage people to build aquaponics systems. Two families have already constructed their fish tanks, and a third is saving the funds to do so. These families were selected based on their enthusiasm and participation in the training, and their desire and ability to follow through.

A model system was first built as a training system. PCV Rosenfeld and the early adopters will continue classes with local farmers, the national Agronomy University, Ministerio de Agricola, and various other NGOs in the country.

Each participant will build his own grow beds, which is the biggest cost of the project. The grow beds will be made of cement and filled with volcanic rock.

Within the grow beds farmers can cultivate almost any plant from vegetables to fruit trees to ornamental plants to sell in the local markets. Currently they are working with Roma Tomatoes and cucumber.

The co-op will donate 10% of its annual profit to the ADESCOPAZ de Canton San Antonio, an elected community government body whose purpose is general community development. Currently that body is working on projects such as a potable water system for the village, and a children’s park.

Project Impact
Three families will benefit directly from the project. However, its successful completion will doubtless stir many others in the community to embrace the technology and build systems of their own.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Nick Rosenfeld

Comments
This is a project that demonstrates the benefits of an extremely valuable and useful technology to the community. It will compel others who have been trained to follow suit, and will create interest in still others to undertake training.

The fish and produce can be used by participants to help feed their families. However, the items produced in excess of the individual needs can be sold, making this project a model in business implementation.

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.

Dollar Amount Needed
$500.00

Location
Caserio La Joya, Canton Casa Blanca de Talchiga, Municipio de Perquin, Morazan, El Salvador

Community Description
La Joya is located in the northeast mountains of El Salvador, in the department of Morazán, about 200 kilometers from the capital of San Salvador. It is 11 kilometers from the town of Perquín and was badly affected by the civil war, which ended in 1992.

The communities in and around La Joya were deserted during the 12-year civil war and have been slow to recover. They are presently lacking in infrastructure, education, and economic activities.

The caserio of La Joya, one of the poorest communities in country, has been largely overlooked because of the small population and its relatively isolated location.

The land is characterized by poor quality soil, which allows for few crops to be grown. There are pine trees, but due to the logging activity, the forests have been left decimated and much of the soil has been eroded.

There are accessible roads to the caserio. However, there is no public transportation in and out of the community, creating a feeling of isolation in many of the residents.

Currently, the village consists of 29 homes, 179 inhabitants. Although there is a potable water system in place for 13 homes, 16 families still retrieve their water directly, unfiltered, from one of the peripheral springs near the community. Water during the rainy season is plentiful. However, during the dry season, many families do without or carry their water over long distances.

Project Description
This project will provide a central point for potable water for presently unserved members of the community. A hub will be located at the school, located in the northern extremity of the southernmost section of the community, and will allow each family to eventually connect a fixed line to their homes. In the interim, there will be a spigot from which community members can draw their water to bring to their homes.

Each household will contribute the manual labor (digging trenches, laying and connecting water lines) and will lay the pipe from the school to a central point equidistant from their homes.

Project Impact
9 families and 40 people will directly benefit by gaining access to clean water.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jim Hooper and Linsey Hackett

Comments
This project gives immediate relief to families that presently do not have access to safe water. It builds upon an existing system and accomplishes a realistic goal.

There is full community participation, and the project is recognized as an essential extension to a functioning water system.

The successful completion of this segment suggests a follow-up project that will afford the remaining unserved portion of the community needed access.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$400.00

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.

Dollar Amount Needed
$100.00