Aeolus Valley School Water Project – Jamaica

Community Description
Aeolus Valley All Age School is a small rural school nestled in the valleys of the Blue Mountain foothills. The school is approximately seven miles from Yallahs, St. Thomas, and twenty five miles from Kingston.

The school serves eleven surrounding communities, which include: Scotland Gate, Sam’s Mountain, Aeolus Valley, Swamp District, Lloyds, Bransbury District, Logwood, Hampstead, New Land, Yallahs, and Pondside.

The school population is comprised of 194 students: 127 boys and 67 girls across grades one through nine. The school employs eight teachers, one guidance counselor and one acting principal.

The school compound consists of three classroom blocks, one principal’s cottage, one canteen, one water tank, and two new flush toilets. The top block contains grades one through three, the middle block contains grades four through six, and the bottom block contains grades seven and grade eight/nine.

Most of the children who attend the school come from families involved in agriculture and quarrying. The majority of the students come from a low socio-economic status. As such, approximately fifty percent of the student body is on the Ministry sponsored PATH Programme and receive free lunch on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Three times per week, students receive a free and nutritious breakfast through the Heart of a Child Foundation. Funding for the organization comes from alumni of the school and other generous benefactors.

Aeolus Valley All Age is one of the oldest schools in the area, having been founded in 1926. Yet, its progress has been slow during recent years.

The school was able to install two new flush bathrooms for its students with help from Food for the Poor. However, the students have not been able to use the bathrooms, as there was not a connection to a water supply.

The students are presently forced to revert back to the use of the old pit latrines and one deteriorating pipe for hand washing.

Project Description
This project is to do the work necessary to bring water to the school bathrooms.

A pump will be purchased and installed and connected by piping to the existing storage tank. This will finally allow the students to use their newly installed bathroom

Project Impact
The entire school, consisting of 194 students and 10 faculty members, will benefit from this project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Danielle Porreca

Comments
Upon completion of the project, there will be usable flush toilets and new sinks. The improved sanitation will greatly improve the health conditions at the school.

For a relatively small amount of money, this project adheres to the Appropriate Project standards, which call for utilizing existing improvements and “making them work”.

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 Danielle Porreca of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Danielle and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Jamaica.

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

Conclusion of Aeolus Valley School Water Project – Jamaica

This project has been successfully completed under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Danielle Porreca. To see the history of the project CLICK HERE.

The project was to provide water for the bathrooms at the Aeolus Valley School.

Danielle reports:

Aeolus Valley's water project is complete. We purchased a Truper 1 HP pressure pump from a hardware store in Kingston, and went to a community hardware store for the fittings.

A community plumber installed the pump and a community mason covered the exposed pipes with cement. The toilets and sinks now have a regular water supply.

Danielle tells about how the project was received:

The new school year has started and Aeolus Valley has fully functioning bathrooms. The students were excited to find the bathrooms open on the first day of school. All the students wanted a turn to wash their hands at the sink. Thanks to the newly installed pump the bathrooms will continue to stay open for the students.

We again wish to thank Six Senses Resorts & Spas and family of Danielle Porreca for providing the funds for this project.