Georgia

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
Giorgitsminda is a small village that is 45 miles outside of the capitol city of Tblisi.

The Giorgitsminda public school does not have running water for washing hands after using the public toilet.

Project Description
This project is to build a handwashing station outside of the public toilet at the school. Water will be run from the water source to the inside of the school building. Water will first be pumped to a new tank on top of the second floor of the building, and will be fed to the handwashing station by gravity.

Project funds will be used for materials, including a tank, pump, and piping.

The labor will be provided without charge by a professional plumber.

Project Impact
320 people will benefit from this project, including 300 students between the ages of 5-18 and 20 staff members.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Katherine Steed

Comments
This project will greatly impact upon the hygiene and sanitation at the school. Students will now be able to wash their hands after using the toilet and in preparation for lunch.

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 Katherine Steed of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Katherine and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Georgia.

Community Description
Georgia is bounded on the west by the Black Sea, on the north by Russia, on the south by Turkey and Armenia, and on the east by Azerbaijan.

The independence of Georgia was restored in 1991. The country subsequently went through periods of economic crisis, civil unrest, and armed conflict. Although there has been democratic reform, economic growth has remained slow.

Rustavi (pop. 160,000) is the city center of the southern Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli. Kvemo Kartli is a diverse region with many ethnic Azeris (the largest minority group in this region), Russians and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Although occupied for centuries prior, the modern city of Rustavi arose in 1948 to support Soviet steel, metal and chemical industries. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the decline of its metallurgy industry, Rustavi has faced high employment and poverty.

Today, many Rustavi residents survive off the earnings of relatives working in Tbilisi or abroad. Approximately one-fourth of the Georgian population lives outside the country working to support family members at home.

Rustavi School #10 is located in one of the poorest micro-districts of the city. Over forty percent of the students attending this school come from families that fall below the poverty line (as defined by the Georgian government). Fifty students are internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the breakaway regions. The school serves first through twelfth graders and occupies a four-story building.

Project Description
This project is to renovate three bathrooms in the school. These separate bathrooms service female students, male students and teachers. Each of the student bathrooms contains five stalls; the teacher bathroom contains two stalls. In each of the three bathrooms, squatting bowls serve as the human waste repositories.

Although water tanks were installed previously, they no longer function and are beyond repair. The school cleaner uses buckets of water to clean the squatting bowls. As a result, water often overflows releasing human waste onto the floor. Additionally, the pipes carrying the waste away from the basins are broken and leak into the school hallway. Although there is one sink in each bathroom, no soap is available for students to clean their hands.

The school will replace the pipes, water tanks and tubes connecting the tanks with the toilets so that the flush mechanism will work correctly. In addition, new sinks will be installed, along with soap dispensers, soap and hand towels.

To supplement the sanitation repairs, the school will conduct after-school sanitation trainings with student volunteers in each grade level. These students will then deliver short presentations to their peers during classes to promote hand-washing and proper hygiene practices.

The work will be done by a local contractor, and will be completed in less than one month.

Project Impact
A total of 476 students and 61 staff will directly benefit from this project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Alene Kennedy Hendricks

Comments
This is our first project in Georgia. We are happy to play a small part in helping to rebuild the infrastructure so as to provide for the basic needs of the students and faculty of the school.

This project fixes the water system and restores the basic sanitation of a school. However, perhaps more importantly, it helps revive the dignity of people caught in an unfortunate economic environment who have the desire but lack the funds to improve their local conditions.

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 Alene Kennedy Hendricks of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Alene and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Georgia.

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