Thailand

Community Description
Ban Bak Bang is a rural community in the northeast province of Nakhon Phanom Thailand. The village is comprised of 176 houses/families totaling more than 850 people and is located approximately 25 kilometers from the Mekong River, which is the Thailand-Laos border.

Bak Bang is one of 12 villages in the sub-district of Piman, relatively close to the Phu Phan mountains. It is accessible only by traveling more than 4 kilometers on a dirt road. Nearly all villagers work in an agricultural field. Rice farming is the main crop, with increasing numbers of rubber trees also being planted. The terrain is largely plains, which is conducive for rice farming, but also contains many forests.

One of three kindergartens in the 12 villages of sub-district Piman is located in Bak Bang near Wat Pho Chai Sii.

The kindergarten in Bak Bang has approximately 30 students (ages 2-4) and 2 teachers. The restroom facilities are in a very poor condition. The sinks are also not appropriate for the children from ages 2 to 4.

The kindergarten is located adjacent to the grounds of Wat Pho Chai Sii. This general area is a frequent location for village meetings.

Project Description
This project is to provide all needed improvements to the restroom facilities by renovating 3 of the 8 restroom units.

One adult sized sink will be removed and sinks (one long or several individual) will be installed at an appropriate height for children ages 2-4 (approximately 40 centimeters from the floor, rather than 90+ centimeters existing today).

Project funds will be used to purchase materials for the project. The labor will be done by local villagers.

The improved bathroom facilities will help the teachers in their effort to teach good oral hygiene and sanitation principals.

The project is being carried out under the direction of the Sub-District Administrative Office (SAO) Piman, with the support of Puyaiban Sawat, the Village Leader of Bak Bang.

Project Impact
The project will benefit the 800+ adults and children of the village who regularly use the facilities. The most impact will be on the 30 students who attend kindergarten daily as well as the 2 teachers.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Anita Root

Comments
This project will allow the school to better serve the needs of the school and the community. It will instill pride and satisfaction in those helping to implement the project and the people who utilize the facilities. Proper sanitary facilities will promote better hygiene practices, thereby improving the health of the villagers.

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
Ban Phrong Village is located in the district of Non Khun in Sisaket Province of Northeastern Thailand.

The village has a community meeting hall, which is often used for a variety of events including health talks, government meetings, meetings to prepare for local festivals, and senior group meetings. Most villagers attend a function at the meeting hall at least monthly.

Currently there are no bathrooms in the meeting hall, and people must use the toilets in the surrounding homes, if available.

Project Description
This project will provide two bathrooms, one for men and one for women, in the community meeting hall.

The project will be carried out under the direction of the Non Kor Sub-District Administration Office.

Local villagers and health volunteers have already completed a plan for creating the bathrooms and will work together on the construction.

Project funds will be used for purchasing materials, as the villagers have agreed to undertake the labor themselves.

Project Impact
There are 429 people in the village that will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Sarah Brooks

Comments
With the bathrooms installed, community groups, including those groups making local products, will be able to meet and work in a clean and safe environment.

This project follows up on the prior project successfully completed by PCV Sarah Brooks, the Non Khun School Water Project – Thailand. The villagers of Ban Phrong were inspired by that project, and decided start one of their own.

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 Sarah Brooks of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Sarah and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Thailand.

Community Description
Within the district Muak Lek, this village is one of 18 in the largest of the sub-districts within Thailand's central province of Saraburi. The area is mountainous and cooler than the rest of the central provinces.

Residents of this sub-district raise dairy cows, and grow sugarcane, corn, and cassava. Although some villages are more affluent than others, there are low- income households within each village.

There are 8 primary schools within the sub-district (at village 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, and 9). The one at Village 1 Ban Sub Noi serves students from several nearby villages.

Although Village 1 Ban Sub Noi is one of the more affluent villages of the sub-district, the restrooms of its primary school are not hygienic. Squat toilets are old, discolored, and cracking. The walls are tainted with mildew. Sinks are in the same condition, with several broken faucets and an inadequate water supply.

Project Description
The project is to renovate the restrooms of the Primary School of Village 1 Ban Sub Noi.

Project Impact
This project will benefit the 283 students at the school. In addition, the entire community will benefit, as the school is the site of numerous sporting events and other communal activities.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
T.D. Nguyen

Comments
This project stands to be a model for other schools to follow, as it is the first of its type within the sub-district. The improved sanitary conditions will have an immediate positive effect on the health and wellbeing of the students.

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 T.D. Nguyen of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by T.D. and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Thailand.

Community Description
Nong Gae School serves students from four small villages in rural Northeast Thailand. The area of these villages comprises roughly 165 households, nearly all of which rely on rice farming for their primary income.

These villages are connected to the outside world by gravel roads, and their rice-based income makes them heavily reliant on good weather for their livelihood. In a region that is often plagued by droughts and floods, the people have had to deal with many bad years and often must depend on secondary occupations, such as raising mushrooms or weaving silk, or must travel away from home and work as hired labor in more fertile regions.

Still, these communities have a strong dedication to the education of their children and to Nong Gae School. Recently the school was able to raise enough money from community member donations to build a new one-room kitchen so that the students’ meals could be prepared under more sanitary conditions.

Parents and community leaders also come to meetings to help plan the school’s future and for holiday celebrations and other activities that the school holds.

Over 200 people live in Nong Gae Village, and the combined usage of preparing meals, washing clothes, using restrooms, watering gardens, etc. uses so much of the water supply that by the time the pipes reach the school, a fully-opened water spout often merely drips.

In recent months community members donated to the school once again to help build a water tower on the school grounds. Currently the school shares a single water tower with the nearby Nong Gae Village, but this water source is simply not enough to supply both the village and the school.

Project Description
This project is to build a new water tower for the school, and connect it to the piping that already runs through the school.

The community has already raised about $1,500, and, under the direction of the school staff, the project was started. The metal structure of the tower and four large water tanks to hold the water have already been purchased and are sitting in the schoolyard, waiting for the rest of the materials so that they can be put up.

Project funds will be used to purchase the necessary materials and equipment. These include concrete for the foundation, a pump to get water up to the tower, and PVC pipes and metal beams to support the structure.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 268 people, including the 60 people who spend their day at Nong Gae School and the 208 villagers living nearby, who will gain better access to water (since they will no longer be competing with the school for limited resources).

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Beau Gambold

Comments
With the new water tower, students and staff at the school will have abundant drinking water, as well as be able to prepare meals, wash hands and dishes, use the restrooms and water the school’s garden without having to wait for water to drip slowly out.

It is often seen that an extremely necessary project remains dormant for lack of a small amount of money to complete it. This is a great example of how a project by a dedicated community can be enabled.

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 Beau Gambold of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Beau and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Thailand.