Fully Funded

Community Description
The villages of Saburunduru and Kinyaga in the Sector of Cyahinda lie atop a mountain in the Southern Province of Rwanda, near the Burundian border. Geographically stunning, but without electricity, none of the households have access to running water.

Cyahinda is very rural and quite isolated from the nearest towns, and endures crushing poverty and a particularly traumatic history due to the Genocide of 1994. Despite these challenges, it is a warm, welcoming, and familial community made up mostly of subsistence farmers who rely on natural water sources to maintain their crops, and to use for daily necessities like drinking, bathing, washing, and cooking.

The community also supports two secondary schools, a primary school, and a new health center.

Currently, community members of Saburunduru and Kinyaga villages are forced to walk upwards of 10 kilometers to obtain water. This water source is stagnant and unsafe and appointed community health workers report high instances of water-borne diseases, the most extreme being diarrhea among young children, which can be fatal.

There is a natural water source very near the villages at the bottom of a small valley that would be much more accessible and safe, but due to flooding, erosion, neglect, and broken piping, the tap is in great disrepair and is not functioning. This forces residents to seek water at another source much further away from their homes.

Because the responsibility of fetching water traditionally falls on girls and young women, the long distance is a distraction from attending school or helping with other household chores.

The community has a need and desire to repair the water source but lacks direction and financial means to do so. There is enthusiastic support of community leaders to make the valley water site a source that can be safely and effectively used on a daily basis by all.

Project Description
The old concrete tap that is currently in disrepair and has sunk due to erosion and flooding will be uprooted and replaced, and the new concrete tap will be embedded closer to the natural water source.

The tap will be built with a much stronger foundation to prevent it from sinking. It will then be re-connected to the natural water source with high-quality piping. Run-off canals will be installed to drain excess rainfall and prevent flooding and erosion.

Labor and transportation will be donated by the population in the tradition of umuganda, a Rwandan custom whereby community members come together and work for the improvement and betterment of their habitat on a regular basis. This will encourage ownership and pride in the project.

A supervising technician will be hired for the purpose of leadership, technical reliability, and follow-up monitoring once the project is completed.

Project Impact
Community members in the villages of Saburunduru and Kinyaga, a total population of 4,250 people, will benefit from this improvement.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Emma Gring

Comments
This is a high-impact project which creates a community water source that can be safely and effectively used on a daily basis by all.

Dollar Amount of Project
$458.00

Donations Collected to Date
$458.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of James Williams and Felicia Draper, of San Francisco, CA, in honor of the memory of Alison Des Forges.

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

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

Community Description
Katima Village is a small rural village in central Malawi. The people are subsistence farmers who grow their food needs and raise some tobacco and soya for their cash needs.

Chitunda Primary School, located in Katima Village, has 625 children who attend from the surrounding villages.

A hand pump borehole well, located on the grounds of Chitunda School, was rendered non-functional 2 years ago when some of the main parts of the pump were stolen. The school has had no money for repairs.

The school is forced to draw water from an unprotected shallow well about 1 mile away.

Project Description
This project is to repair the well on the school grounds.

The District Borehole Technician has done an assessment and will supervise the repair.

Project funds will be used for the parts and for the transport of the supplies.

The school will build handwashing facilities at the outdoor toilets.

With the resumed functionality of the well, the Student Committee for Safe Water club will teach safe water practices and sanitation to the younger students.

Project Impact
730 people will benefit from the project, including 625 students of Chitunda Primary School and 105 people (15 families) in the surrounding area.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Judy Summers

Comments
This project provides a simple remedy to a deplorable situation, lack of water at a primary school. It will have a great impact on hygiene and sanitation, and motivate and enable the school and the community to undertake additional development and educational projects.

This is the 5th project by Peace Corps Volunteer Judy Summers. To read about the others, use the Search box above, and type in “Summers”.

Dollar Amount of Project
$330.00

Donations Collected to Date
$330.00

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 Judy Summers of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Judy and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Malawi.

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

Community Description
Thmar Puok District town is located in the northwest Province of Banteay Meanchey 50 kilometers north of the Provincial Capital of Serei Sophon.

One of the biggest concerns for people in Thmar Puok is the shortage of water. In the dry season, sanitation decreases because of the lack of available water in the area.

The Thmar Puok District Referral Hospital is the biggest health facility in a 40 kilometer radius. It has two wells for use by the staff and patients, but neither of them is currently functioning.

Project Description
This project is to repair the two wells at the hospital.

The work will be performed by local technicians, and completed before the start of the rainy season.

Project Impact
The hospital serves both the Thmar Puok and Sway Chek districts, with a combined population of 111,197 people who will benefit from the project. There are 147 villages within these districts. There are 49 staff members within the hospital.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Kelsey Hedrick

Comments
This project by Peace Corps Volunteer Kelsey Hedrick follows upon her successful completion of the Thmar Puok Bathroom Project – Cambodia.

This is a vital project that must be done at once so that hygiene and sanitation can be restored within the hospital.

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 Burke Tran, of San Francisco, California, USA.

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

Community Description
Tucked away in a distant corner of Rwamagana District lies the village of Murehe. Murehe is perched atop a cascade of green hills in the Muyumbu sector of the Rwamagana District.

Though geographically close to the capital city of Kigali, Murehe seems worlds apart, as it is largely untouched by modernity. From its hills, community members can see the sun glint off the tin roofs of housing developments in the capital city, but they enjoy none of the luxuries which they see from afar.

Community members must walk, often several kilometers, to fetch water from a communal tap, and the village has not yet been connected to the national electrical grid.

In Muyumbu Sector, of which Murehe is a part, there are 2 primary schools and only 1 secondary school where a total of 3400 students attend. As in most of the country, students usually attend primary school in the region and then, depending on financial resources, begin secondary school at their local school or board in a larger city.

The Murehe Health Post and Muyumbu Health Center share responsibility for the care of community members because of the large geographic area which the sector encompasses - a total of 54.6 square kilometers. Muyumbu Health Center is responsible for 8000 residents, and, Murehe Health Post is delegated responsibility for another 7000 people in its specific catchment area.

Services offered at the Murehe Health Post include maternity, general consultation for children and adults, laboratory testing, family planning, vaccination, voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, and a vibrant community health worker program.

On average, the health post sees approximately 1200 patients each month in its general consultation ward and an additional 20 women in its maternity ward. In consultations, Murehe’s nurses routinely encounter malaria, intestinal worms and subsequent malnutrition, respiratory illnesses, and general wounds and skin afflictions.

The Murehe Health Post is fortunate in that it has adequate space for its daily operations, electricity from solar panels, and a qualified and motivated staff of 6 nurses, 1 laboratory technician, and 1 social services manager. Unfortunately, it lacks one critical element – running water.

In its maternity room and laboratory, there is no running water available, and health professionals are forced to bring in water by bucket for daily needs and operations. The lab technician recently bemoaned the fact that he must wash dirty slides by hand in a bucket of water which is both unsanitary and inefficient.

Project Description
This project is to install water in the maternity room and laboratory.

The maternity room (which is joined to the general consultation room) and laboratory will be connected to the external spigot and sinks will be installed in each of these rooms. This will allow health professionals to provide sterile equipment, ensure proper sanitation when moving between patients, and role model hygienic practices before community members.

The project will be achieved by connecting to the water spigot on the grounds of the health center and running piping underground to the buildings.

Project funds will be used to pay for labor and materials. The Access Project and the director of the Muyumbu and Murehe Health Centers will pay for the transportation of all materials.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 7000 people.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Colleen Laurence

Comments
This is another high-impact project under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Colleen Laurence. Her first project, the Ruhunda Health Center Water Project – Rwanda, was similar in nature to the current project, and proved to be extremely effective.

Dollar Amount of Project
$450.00

Donations Collected to Date
$450.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of James Williams and Felicia Draper, of San Francisco, CA, with the designation DWT/Shartsis Friese, in honor of their two law firms.

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

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