Appropriate Projects

Community Description
Vilkovo is a small town at the very southern tip of the Odessa Oblast near the tributary of the Danube River and the Black Sea. It has a population of about 9,000 spread out in the delta of the Danube River at its tributary with the Black Sea.

Vilkovo's economy is based on the shipping industry. Many men from the town work on cargo ships and on fishing. Vilkovo has a small business district in its downtown area that is host to several small shops and an open air market.

The First School of Vilkovo is located right in the middle of the business district. The school is home to about 300 students, ages 7-17, and 25 teachers.

The students and staff currently use a pit toilet adjacent to the playground. The toilet also serves patrons of the business district. This creates more traffic than the facility was built to accommodate, is a public health hazard, and is likely a source of sickness that puts many students out of school every winter.

Project Description
This project is the addition of a toilet facility and handwashing station to a planned extension of the First School of Vilkovo.

An addition has been planned for the school, to be built in the summer of 2012. The addition will be funded by the local school administration. The project is the addition of a plumbed toilet facility to the school’s new extension.

This toilet facility will consist of separate male and female bathrooms. There will be 4 toilets and 2 sinks in each. Water will come from the city water line and sewage waste will go to an underground septic tank, maintained by a local septic pumping company.

The facility will be open to the public at certain hours on a pay per use basis. This will supply the school with additional funding to cover the costs of the toilets and septic tank maintenance.

The project will be constructed by a local construction company that has worked with the local school administration in the past.

The toilet facility will be funded through a partnership program grant with the Peace Corps and funds from Water Charity.

The local community of Vilkovo will be contributing 50 percent of the total cost.

Project Impact
Approximately 2,500-3,000 individuals will use this toilet on an annual basis.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jeffrey Ball

Comments
This project brings together massive community and school support with funding organizations brought in to provide assistance to create a necessary and substantial sanitary facility for the school.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

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
$555.00

Community Description
Barskoon is a village of roughly 7,300 residents living in approximately 2,000 family units located on the south shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. The main source of income of most families is from growing crops or raising livestock for sale or personal use.

Some families have additional income from the major employers in the village. These include Kindirbaev Secondary School, Kumtar Gold Mine, Barskoon’s Hospital, Bakyt Craft Factory, and shops located in the village.

Kindirbaev Secondary School is currently the only secondary school in Barskoon. Over 1,500 students from 1st through 11th grade study at this school. The school is staffed by 115 teachers and another 30 people who work as support staff.

Although the teachers’ toilets have for some time been unfit for use, the school has always made it their priority to replace and repair the facilities used by students first. In 2005 the school built a permanent outhouse structure for students, and in 2010 the school built a state-of-the-art outhouse for their handicapped students.

The facilities currently used daily by the staff were built using second-hand wood that is now falling apart and rotting. They are now unfit for use and extremely unsafe.

Project Description
This project is to create two toilets at Kindirbaev Secondary School for the use of teachers and support staff.

The new facilities will be built on school grounds more than 50 meters from the closest water source to ensure there is no negative impact on the water supply. The structure will be built out of concrete and bricks to ensure the facility will be safe to use over the years.

A professional construction worker completed the design and blueprint of the facility at no cost. He will be available to help oversee this project.

Completion of the project is scheduled to take 12 days. The activities will include preparing the location, digging the hole, installing support beams, laying concrete for the platform, laying the foundation, building the brick walls, placing the roof, and installing doors and windows.

All materials will be bought locally or in the city located 2 hours away as needed. All labor and transportation of materials will be supplied by teachers. They will also pay any expenses in excess of the budgeted amount

Materials to be purchased with project funds will include, sand, cement, brick, metal roof, door, iron support beams, wood and boards, windows, and nails.

Project Impact
145 teachers and support staff will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Joanna Ison

Comments
This is an extremely important project that needs to be completed as quickly as possible. Having a clean, safe, and sturdy toilet for staff members to use while at work is an important sanitation issue.

Joanna previously successfully completed the Kindirbaev Secondary School Handwashing Station Project – Kyrgyzstan.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

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
$555.00

The project was to build an indoor toilet at the Diadkovichy School.

Maria reports:

The project is now completed. The final outcome was six bathroom stalls for students and a separate bathroom for teachers.

As soon as the funds arrived, our maintenance staff and village parents, who are local handymen, began work on the bathroom remodel. They started by replacing all of the rusted pipes under the school that transport water from the toilet area to the waste area. They then did both structural and cosmetic and remodeling to the bathroom facility.

A teacher at the school commented (translated):

"I can't believe people would send money to an insignificant village like Diadkovichy for water and bathroom! We are so thankful"

Community Description
El Llano is a small village with a population of around 600 people located 2.5 km from the town of Patzún. The population is 99% indigenous and people primarily speak the Mayan language of Kaqchikel. Almost all of the community members are farmers and rely on selling their peas, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce in the market in Patzún.

While this community does not have a lot of economic means, the members are very committed to their school. El Llano PAIN is a 2-classroom preschool program that works with 81 children between the ages of 0 to 6. Groups of about 30 children come each day during the week based on their ages.

The PAIN program is unique because the two teachers also spend time conducting home visits to work with mothers on helping the development of their young children in their homes, as well as work with expecting mothers to advise them on how to take care of themselves for their own health and that of their future children.

El Llano PAIN is one of 25 schools that work with the Healthy Schools program in the Municipality of Patzún. They are only one of two schools in the program that work with such a young age group. They have proven their dedication to the program by coming up with creative ways to practice healthy habits with the kids and their mothers.

El Llano PAIN currently has access to only one faucet to be used for the children to practice healthy habits and for the moms to use to cook the school’s daily snack and to keep the school clean.

Last year the school received approval from the community’s Water Committee to connect to the community’s well. The Consejo de Padres de Familia de PAIN (Programa de Atención Integral) Caserio El Llano (Parent Committee) then installed connective tubing from this community water supply to a location at the school where handwashing stations could be built, and it constructed a seepage pit for the grey water drainage to go from future faucets.

Given the number of students, the school does not have enough infrastructure for the kids to practice all of the necessary healthy habits in a reasonable amount of time.

Project Description
This project is to construct 2 wall handwashing stations, with 4 faucets each.

The stations will be located directly outside the two classrooms and adjacent to the school’s small kitchen. To accommodate the small size of the young children, the height of the faucets will be 40 cm.

Project funds will go toward materials and for the professional mason. The community will provide all unskilled labor, as well as financial support to purchase five 12-foot wooden planks for the construction.

The parent’s committee has also already paid for and provided all the labor for the two previous projects related to this project.

A water infrastructure expert as well as a local mason have consulted with the group about the construction of the faucets.

As participants in the Healthy Schools program, the group will continue to practice all of the habits (washing hands with soap after using the restroom or changing diapers and before eating, as well as brushing teeth after snack) and work with mothers to model practicing healthy habits along with their young children.

Project Impact
The school currently serves about 50 families with 81 children, and the community is growing.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Laura Zachary

Comments
This project builds upon a tremendous amount of community support in building the infrastructure to make this last step a reality. It will allow the kids to practice healthy physical and dental hygiene, and solidify the participation of the school in the Healthy Schools program.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

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
$555.00