$401 to $500

Community Description
Dioulafondu is a medium-sized village of roughly 800 people in the far south east of Senegal. It is located 50 kilometers northeast of the regional capital of Kedougou, two kilometers off of the new national route to Mali, in the arrondissement of Bembou in the Kedougou region.

The village has an elementary school with two completed concrete classrooms, a classroom currently under construction but still being used, and one bamboo shade structure for the youngest class. The school has two UNICEF-built latrines, but no potable water source nearby.

Located on the edge of Dioulafondu and one kilometer from the nearest source of potable water, the students at the village elementary school have no easy access to water during the school day. Several buckets of water are pulled and carried to school each morning for washing the blackboards but the amount is insufficient for use in handwashing and drinking.

A school garden was started in cooperation with the school director to teach the basics of gardening and nutrition.

Project Description
This project is to build a covered, cement-lined well in the school, and will provide daily access to drinking water.

It will also provide water for irrigation of the school garden during the hot season. The vegetables grown will contribute to the daily school lunch and thus work to improve nutrition among the students.

In addition, handwashing stations outside of the latrines will be implemented in order to promote better hygiene.

The labor for digging the well will be provided for by the village.

Project funds will be used to construct a well cover and install a simple hand pump that will be connected to a small raised reservoir, reducing the effort required to pull water and ensuring a constant supply when needed.

Project Impact
There are currently 133 students and 4 teachers at the Dioulafondu elementary school who will be directly affected by the project by receiving easy access to potable water. The entire village will be indirectly benefited by the increased garden productivity that will allow students to sell surplus vegetables in the village in order to aid future school projects and well maintenance.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Kellen Eilerts

Comments
The new water supply will supply water for the students to drink, for sanitation, and for irrigation of the garden. This will enable better hygiene practices and improved nutrition for the students.

This is a terrific project, in which a very motivated community is providing a major portion of the construction costs of the project. This level of involvement ensures the sustainability of the project.

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
Missirah Ouseman, locally known as Ouseman Diay, is a Pulaar village situated 30 kilometers east of Kolda même and two kilometers off the road to Velingara. Founded by Ouseman Balde in 1963, the village has grown to 167 inhabitants with 15 heads of household.

As subsistence farmers, the villagers grow corn, peanuts, sorghum, rice, millet and cowpeas during the rainy season. The crops cultivated sustain the villagers throughout the dry season.

In addition to field crops, a main component of village nutrition is dry season gardening. Women grow vegetables in individual plots encased with bamboo fencing. Most plentiful are tomatoes, jaxatou, peppers, follerey and onions, supplemented by the occasional cultivation of cabbage, lettuce and eggplant.

Currently, women and children haul water from as far as half a kilometer away to water their gardens during the dry season.

A community garden has been established, funded by the community and other funding sources, which will make it more feasible to raise crops all year around.

Project Description
This project is to build a cement-lined well, connected to two cement water basins, inside an enclosed community garden.

The well will be 11 meters deep and double-lined with cement for durability. It will be connected to a cement basin on each side for water storage and increased garden coverage.

Project Impact
This project will directly benefit 167 people in the village of Missirah Ouseman. In addition, 150 people in surrounding villages will have access to the well.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Emily Bachman

Comments
This project will alleviate the burden of hauling water to maintain and irrigate a community garden. It will free up the time of women and children, to enable them to be more productive in work and study, and devote more time to family and group activities.

The garden will improve the diets of villagers, and yield commensurate health benefits, by increasing vegetable production and consumption.

Family and community income will be increased, as villagers will be able to sell surplus vegetables at local weekly markets nearby. This economic opportunity is vital, in an area where there is little other chance for gainful enterprise.

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
Cotiujeni Mari has a population of 3,650 people. Social problems in the village include high rates of unemployment and alcoholism. The local government estimates that over 50% of school-aged children have one or both parents working or living abroad. This leaves many children in vulnerable positions, often being raised by elderly grandparents or relatives.

Every family in the village participates in subsistence farming, and most families have another small source of income. Additionally, like many other rural Moldovan villages, Cotiujenii Mari is isolated from the world and the rest of the country. Government assistance to schools and organizations can take years and many necessities are left ignored for extended periods of time.

Cotiujenii has a lyceum with 365 children from grades 1-12.

Additionally, the village has the Pacurasii Day Center, which was started in 2003 with the financial assistance of international donors by a local non-governmental organization. The mission of the center is to better the lives of people in the community with special needs.

The center is open to children in grades 1-7, and employs one full time teacher and two assistants. It operates through funding from The Ministry of Social Protection for Families and Children of the Soldanesti region.

Additionally, the center provides an alternative education for moderately to severely disabled children and affords after school care, food, and educational assistance to vulnerable youth.

Nine disabled students go to the center five days a week and 19 children attend the center after their school day for assistance with homework, a hot meal, and to learn social skills in a loving environment. These children come from the poorest home situations in the village, the majority of them without parents.

Project Description
This project is to purchase and install a water pump to supply water for use by the Pacurasii Center from a recently-built on-site well.

This project became critical when, several weeks ago, the existing pump for the previously used water source, ceased to function, leaving the center without running water.

The center was built in a renovated building in 2003 and was equipped with electricity, gas heat, and running water. Two toilets, two hand-washing sinks, a shower, and a large sink for the kitchen were installed during this construction with the hope of providing children with sanitary conditions at the center.

The original well that was shared with the community failed to provide water of the quantity and quality needed by the center.

In the fall of 2009, a project called “The Gift of Water” was started, with the goals of improving water conditions, and providing education for the community. The objectives included constructing a new on-site well, purchasing an institutional-sized water pump, and completing a seminar with parents about the Gift of Water.

The parents and community members donated their time and expertise in the fall of 2009 to construct the new well. This project to purchase and install the water pump will make the well functional for the needs of the center.

In addition a seminar will be given for the families to learn the importance of drinking clean water at home, using water for dental hygiene, and using water to wash bodies and hands to prevent the spread of communicable disease.

Project Impact
28 children and 3 employees will be direct beneficiaries of this project. An additional 75 family members will benefit indirectly from this project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Judie Wurm

Comments
This project will guarantee the flow of water necessary for the children to use for washing and bathing, for hygienic purposes in the toilets, and for use in the kitchen.

The community and the center staff have already done a tremendous amount to keep the center operating cleanly and efficiently. By providing an on-site well, they have gone a long way toward meeting their objectives. With just a little help, in the form of a needed pump, there will be significant impact on the wellbeing of the participants.

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