Six Senses

Community Description
Norio is a village of about 4,500 people located 45 minutes to the northeast of Tbilisi. It is an agrarian community where about half of the inhabitants are farmers growing vegetables and tending small herds of livestock. There are five small shops selling food and household items, one butcher, and two bakeries, but no other businesses in the village.

Norio has intermittent running water, fed by springs, to about half of the village. Now the village government is in the process of running water lines to the other half of the village, which will include a spur that will feed the local school. Unfortunately, the school falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science which does not have the funds to do the work at the school necessary for water to be available year-round.

Norio has one public school that serves all of Norio's children, approximately 470 children total.

Project Description
This project will provide a system to enable the school to collect and store water from the village water lines for use by the students throughout the year.

A 500 liter cistern with float cutoff, a pump, and connecting pipes, will be purchased and installed. Heat-retaining blankets will be placed on the cistern to prevent winter freezing and possible breakage.

In addition to the installation of the system, presentations will be given to the students about water sanitation, and general hygiene.

Project Impact
470 students and 70 teachers will directly benefit from the project. The remaining 4,000 community member will indirectly benefit from occasional use of the facilities.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Kyle Mueller

Comments
This project will make water available for the use of the school year-round, by giving the school control of its own water supply. This will have an immediate impact on the health and hygiene of the students and faculty.

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 Kyle Mueller of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Kyle and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Georgia.

Community Description
Las Pampas in a small rural community settled in the northern district of Olmos in Lambayeque. It currently does not have electricity (it is projected to be installed by the end of the year) and all houses depend on their own wells for water.

There is a local primary and secondary school, a locally elected governor and several government-sponsored organizations. The population is under 1,000 inhabitants.

The community is located 10 kilometers from the town of Olmos making it difficult (and costly) to find work outside of manual labor in the nearby fields. For this, the local population has little means of income outside of small animal husbandry and subsistence farming. One of the only other options is the promotion of conservation and eco-tourism.

Las Pampas is home to one of the best animal refuges in Peru, Crax 2000, dedicated to conservation and the re-introduction of critically endangered species. The animal refuge is managed by locals and currently produces a small income,

The refuge is made up of two parts. One focused on various bird species, including the White Winged Guan, and serves as a breeding center with the objective of reintroduction and salvation of critically endangered species.

The other part of the refuge is for rescued animals, recovered by the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA). These animals are often wild animals that have been recovered from circuses, markets, and private citizens and are often too domesticated or ill to be reintroduced. They will live at the refuge, being taken care of by the biologist and local workers.

Crax 2000 itself is a community center, used by school groups, local organizations and tourists to learn about animal conservation and reintroduction, complete studies based on these animals, and have environmentally themed meetings and events.

There is no water available at the refuge to properly support the influx of tourism, the workers who live there and the continued conservation of the White Winged Guan.

Currently, the refuge has to buy water from the district municipality that brings it in a large truck, costing $80 weekly and all food has to be bought in local markets, costing more than the refuge makes from the donations by visitors. At that it barely provides sufficient fresh drinking water to the workers and animals.

Without water the center is unable to maintain a vegetable and fruit garden that would drastically lower their maintenance cost for feeding the animals.

Currently visitors to the center help feed the animals and learn about the important conservation work that they do. However, there are no handwashing stations, functional bathrooms (the bathrooms are already built but lack a water connection) or rest areas with drinkable water in the entire center.

Project Description
This project is to improve the sanitation and general health of the refuge and its user groups by providing crucial components to supplement the equipment and materials on hand.

Crax 2000 already has a water pump, a cemented well and the tubes to connect to it, but they lack the funds to purchase a motor to complete the system.

The installation of a motor will provide water for the workers who live there, for the tourists (with hand washing stations, bathrooms and installation in the guest bungalows), for the fruit plants and vegetable gardens that the refuge has for its animals, and for the animals themselves.

Project Impact
The improvements will allow a fourfold increase of the current number of people served at the refuge, raising it to over 20,000 visitors per year.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Lisa Melendy

Comments
The simple improvements that will be accomplished will have a major impact on the community and the refuge by allowing the refuge to operate in a sanitary manner and live up to its full potential.

The refuge benefits the community by diversifying employment opportunities. In addition to the impact on the wildlife, the refuge creates an important teaching opportunity for visitors to learn about wildlife conservation.

Dollar Amount of Project
$475.00

Donations Collected to Date
$475.00

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, with the help of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Lisa Melendy.

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

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

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
Patar Lia is a rural community of 371 people, located about 10 kilometers off the Route National near the small town of Gossas. It is made up mostly of subsistence farmers who spend the rainy season growing peanuts and millet in the fields surrounding the village. Many of the Wolofs, Seereres and Pulaars from Patar Lia supplement their income by working in the capital or other urban areas as taxi drivers, housekeepers and construction workers.

Ecole Patar Lia educates 153 students from Patar and the nearby villages of Bannan, Tongol, Fissel I and II and Toune. The eight teachers and school director have identified many issues resulting from the chronic lack of funding, prioritizing improvement of the current health and sanitation standards.

The municipal government constructed two latrines for faculty use in 2007. However, the students are forced to go behind classrooms or to the nearby fields to perform necessary bodily functions. The resulting unsanitary condition of the school grounds puts the health of students, teachers, and their relatives at risk. Serious diseases like cholera and diarrhea affect many community members and can be attributed to poor waste management.

Project Description
This project is to construct six additional latrines next to existing classes within the school compound for use by the student body.

The latrines will be constructed against an existing cement wall in a single block, and feed into a shared septic tank. Heavy-duty cement bricks covered by cement will be used to construct the walls, and corrugated zinc will be used for the doors in each stall and serve as sturdy roofing material. This design maximizes the number of latrines while minimizing both construction time and cost.

Information on the use and importance of latrines will be illustrated using health themed murals, and these lessons integrated into the existing curriculum during the coming school year.

Project funds will be used to cover the costs of materials, supplies and skilled labor for these latrines.

Unskilled labor, eight cubic meters of soil, and hundreds of liters of water will be donated by the community.

The Association des Parents des Eleves (parents of student’s association) will also make a monetary contribution of 25,000 cfa (about $50 USD) to demonstrate their support of the project and the high value they place on the health and safety of their children.

Project Impact
Approximately 160 teachers and students will be directly affected by this latrine project. The improved sanitation and subsequent disease reduction of this project will create an indirect benefit for the 1,500 people in the neighboring villages of Bannan, Tongol, Fissel I and II and Toune.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Stephanie Shumsky

Comments
Latrine construction is a simple way to dramatically improve the health and sanitation standards of the Patar Lia Primary school, something the community itself has identified as a priority.

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 Stephanie Shumsky of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Stephanie and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Senegal.