$401 to $500

Community Description
Nemba is located in the mountainous Northern Province of Rwanda. Tucked in the Nemba valley and surrounded by mount Kabuye, Nemba is a cool and beautiful place to live.

Nemba is also a major trading hub for agriculture products such as pineapple and Maracuja (passion fruit), and is a major coffee production area. This makes Nemba a vibrant area with dense population, housing a dynamic market that is open two days a week bringing people from all hill tops and other valleys.

This community is served by several health centers and one district hospital. One of these health centers is Nemba Health Center. The center serves a population catchment of over 34,000 people with average daily visits of 140 patients.

The health center provides essential services to the surrounding population, including general consultation services for children and adults, vaccination, maternal care, family planning, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) of HIV/AIDS, a nutrition program, health education, and wound care.

In addition, the health center provides laboratory tests, pharmacy services, and supports a network of community health workers who work closely with the community to sensitize the population on health related issues and draw them to utilize the health facility.

The health center is well run by a competent titulaire (director) and a qualified set of staff for each of the main services. PCV Ahmed Naguib has initiated programs to teach staff on the use of computers and electronic tools for daily activities, and improving quality of work, staff efficiency and satisfaction.

The facility recently acquired a new laboratory facility to conduct a wider range of lab tests improving patient quality of care. Despite recent renovations of the existing facilities with added patient waiting area and a renovated wound care space, many other areas including sanitation continue to be inadequate, and pose risk to the health center staff, patients, and the surrounding environment alike.

While the Nemba health facility enjoys a reliable source of electricity and running water, it lacks in sanitation conditions. Currently, waste water from the laboratory and the consultation rooms empty into a ditch that runs onto the dirt road behind the health center. Rainwater runoff and water used for hospital cleaning are also added into the mix.

The current conditions pose health risk to the patients, pedestrians, surrounding community, and the environment as a whole, especially from waste water from the lab, with dyes and contaminated samples.

Project Description
This project is to construct a septic tank that will collect waste water in a contained and hygienic environment. The underground tank will be built using local materials and local skilled and unskilled labor.

Project funds will be used to purchase materials, such as stones, gravel, sand, cement, bricks, covers, and hardware, and to pay labor costs.

The health center is contributing 15% of the project funds.

Project Impact
18,000 residents of area surrounding health center will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Ahmed Naguib

Comments
This project remediates a dangerous health hazard that calls for rapid action. This simple and cost-effective solution isolates the contaminants and protects the community at large.

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
Rubona is a rural community in Rwamagana District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda, with a health center that serves a population of 24,620 people.

Health center services are comprehensive and include general consultation, maternity, voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, vaccinations, and laboratory testing.

The population of Rubona suffers from high rates of malaria and respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia, and a higher-than-national-average HIV infection rate.

Residents walk as many as 25 kilometers to reach the health center for treatment. The clinic treats an average of 3,000 new cases of illness each month without the help of running water.

Currently, the health center uses buckets to get water from a nearby source and staff scoop water out of buckets to wash hands, facilities, and medical equipment.

A rain catchment system is in place to collect water, but does not serve during the dry season.

Project Description
This project will provide a safe and reliable source of water to the Rubona Health Center. Piping will be run into the center from a main source, and connected to sinks in the maternity, laboratory, and consultation areas.

Project funds will be used to purchase the sinks, piping, and other materials.

Project Impact
24,620 people in the service area will benefit from this project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jennifer Boyd

Comments
It would be difficult to conceive of a more necessary and cost-effective project.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$100.00

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
$400.00

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
Nemyriv is a town of approximately 12,000 people, located 40 km south of the regional capitol of Vinnytska and several hundred kilometers south west of Kiev, adjacent to the Pivdenny Buh River. It serves both as a regional administrative center and the headquarters to the world famous vodka producer Nemiroff.

The town is also home to a sanatorium, a place Ukrainians come to rest in the summer in lieu of more expensive vacations, two public schools, a technical college that serves youth from surrounding communities, an orphanage, and countless private businesses.

As in many Ukrainian towns, sanitation in Nemyriv is not a public service, but rather a business. Citizens must pay hefty prices for trash removal, which has resulted in many opting out of the service, instead dumping household waste on the edges of town, over the sides of ravines, and increasingly into the city's natural, undeveloped areas.

The local reservoir serves as the source of drinking water for residents and visitors, in addition to being a commonly visited fishing hole and summer swimming site. It is a health and environmental hazard, as it is polluted by trash and debris.

Project Description
The project will be to remediate the condition of the local reservoir by removing litter and pollutants from its banks

The clean-up effort is being organized by the Leadership Youth Club from the local technical college. These 15 and 16 year olds will organize volunteers to clear the banks of debris, and remove the trash that clogs the reeds and other vegetation at the water's edge.

The students will use project funds to purchase a number of items in order to make the clean-up a success, including gloves, heavy duty plastic bags, boots, and tools for removing litter from the reeds and picking up used toilet paper and other hazardous materials. In addition, the money will be used to pay for the safe removal and transport of the pollutants collected.

This is the leadership group's first major undertaking. Through this project, they will call attention to the environmental and health problems of the city, and begin to implement practical solutions.

Project Impact
The 12,000 residents of Nemyriv will benefit directly, as will the scores of people who visit the sanatorium each summer.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Valerie Ullrich

Comments
This project is a major step toward empowering the youth of the community to attack environmental and health problems. By cleaning the contaminated water source, they will not only alleviate unhealthful conditions, but will also make a visible statement that self-organization and community action works to improve conditions.

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