Fully Funded

Community Description
Andrenilaivelo is a livestock and farming community of approximately 200-250 people located in the central highlands of Madagascar. There are 25 households of mostly (98%) farmers of rice, cassava and sweet potatoes. A lot of the women are also grass mat weavers.

Andrenilaivelo has no source of potable water, forcing long treks to the river with buckets as part of the daily routine.

The people are aware that their lack of a water source is affecting their productivity in daily life. It is also having a detrimental effect on their health and that of their children.

Project Description
This project is to build a community well at the school in Andrenilaivelo.

The centrally-located well will be hand dug to a depth of about 10-15 meters. It will be both brick and concrete lined with a small aluminum-roofed structure surrounding the well. The water will be potable water without treatment.

Appropriate Projects funds will be used for the materials, including cement, bricks, rope, and nails, and also for the wages for the technician.

Community participation in the project consists of the labor, contracting with and supervising a professional well technician, providing sand and wood, and contributing extra funds as necessary for completion.

Project Impact
250-300 people will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Daniel Branch

Comments
A reliable source of potable water will be important for the health and wellbeing of the entire community.

Dollar Amount of Project
$400.00

Donations Collected to Date
$400.00 + additional amounts

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has been fully funded through the generosity of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Daniel Branch. In addition, extra funds have been received for future projects.

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

Community Description
Kyamue Village is located in the lower half of Eastern Province in Kenya. The area is referred to as Ukambani because it is largely inhabited by the Akamba tribe.

The Lower Eastern Province of Kenya consists of mostly semi-arid areas with around 70% of its population relying on livestock and agriculture farming as their only source of income. Close to 95% of the community's population plant maize and beans twice a year as sustenance for their family and to supplement their other household income.

Unfortunately, like most semi-arid areas, water accessibility is a problem. In addition, the area is very prone to drought with the long rains (March through May) becoming increasingly more unreliable. During times of drought it becomes incredibly difficult for families to harvest enough food to feed themselves as well as earn the money needed to send their children to school.

Generally, people draw their water from the nearby river which involves creating somewhat of a well by digging below the surface of the sand to get "clean" water. Unfortunately, this water is often contaminated because people will reuse these wells instead of digging a new one and people also bring their livestock to the river to drink from these wells.

Project Description
This project is to build a rainwater catchment system to capture and store water for drinking, household use, and irrigation.

The project will be carried out by the Talmmak Self-Help Group (SHG). The group was able to acquire an 8,000-liter tank to be used for rainwater catchment but was left without gutters required to actually catch the rainwater.

The rainwater that will be collected will be potable, and will represent a vast improvement over the existing sources.

Last year, the members of the SHG were able to construct a greenhouse as an income-generating activity (IGA) through the local community-based organization (CBO). They started by planting tomatoes and selling them throughout the surrounding community. Recently, they also began planting onions and garlic. The captured water will be used to irrigate the crops during the rainy season.

During the dry seasons, they will be able to fetch the poorer quality water from the river to use in the greenhouse's irrigation system, thus leaving the clean rainwater solely for drinking water and other household needs.

Appropriate Projects funds will be used to buy the materials needed for the gutters and piping, as well as a drip irrigation kit. The gutters will assure the group is not without water during the rainy seasons while the drip irrigation will help to regulate the amount of water being used making those taxing trips to and from the river less frequent.

The group will be responsible for purchasing the needed materials and then finding a mason who is capable of putting up the gutters, and if needed, another artisan to install the drip irrigation kit. The group will assist with the installation where they can, and at least two group members will be trained on how to properly maintain the drip irrigation kit.

Project Impact
This project will directly benefit about 200 people, the group members and their families, and indirectly affect the remainder of the community, about 300 more people, by providing them with fresh vegetables within the area.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Laken Rippentrop

Comments
This project will ensure that there will be a nearly constant supply of fresh and clean drinking water, and also abundant water for maintaining the community garden.

Dollar Amount of Project
$510.00

Donations Collected to Date
$510.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has been fully funded, through the generosity of the Elmo Foundation.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify the Peace Corps Volunteer of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by the PCV and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.

Community Description
Keur Madiabel, a community of 14,000, is located 33 kilometers south of Kaolack in what is known as the peanut basin of Senegal. The main sources of income are animal husbandry and agriculture.

Built in 1948, the local health post in Keur Madiabel is the main health facility for the community, and provides medical services for the farming and herding communities from 50 kilometers away. These services include basic first aid, pre-natal checkups, vaccinations, and baby weighing.

The health post employs one nurse, one midwife, and many other assistants. While the staff is motivated and resourceful, the hospital simply cannot support the current patient load in a safe and hygienic way, and patients are put at risk for infections and other complications.

The toilets at the facility are completely non-functional and there is no place at the maternity ward to wash hands, sanitize birthing equipment, or clean linens.

Project Description
This project is to repair the toilets in the health post and build a handwashing station in the maternity ward that can also be used to disinfect equipment.

Under the direction of the Keur Madiabel Health Committee, the work will be done by a mason who was hired to prepare the plans and a detailed estimate for the purchase of the materials. He will be donating labor for the project.

This project will go hand-in-hand with a total hospital renovation and a community clean-up day.

In addition, hygiene trainings will be held for health workers at the health post.

Project Impact
The health post usually sees about 250 patients per week, including baby vaccination days. In total, 14,000 people will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jessica Goza

Comments
This modest project will provide sanitary facilities needed for the prevention of the spread of disease.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of The Andando Foundation.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Jessica Goza of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Jessica and/or those of other PCVs in the country.

Community Description
The town of Rezina, with a population of about 13,000, is located next to the beautiful river Nistru in the Northeast of Moldova.

Despite the beautiful landscape, the community has been hard hit by economic woes. A lack of jobs has left many children in the care of grandparents or other family members, as parents are forced to move abroad in order to provide for their families.

Though Rezina can boast many businesses that line its streets, including the largest cement factory in Eastern Europe, many external factors, including the poor state of the road from the capitol city of Chisinau to Rezina, have impeded business growth.

In spite of these hardships, the people of Rezina are a positive, hardworking community, proud of their town and its history. They are looking toward a brighter future that lies in the hands of Rezina’s children and its schools.

Liceul Teoretic Stefan Cel Mare is just one of the four schools in Rezina. Two Romanian language schools, one Russian language school and one boarding school for students with learning disabilities, provide education to both the students of the town as well as the many surrounding villages.

The Stefan Cel Mare School has served the community for over 12 years. Its bright students with Romanian as their mother tongue take foreign language lessons in French, English and Russian along with the ten other subjects covering everything from physics to geometry and physical education.

The building which holds the school was built in 1950 as a dormitory for students of the boarding school. It is now the largest school in Rezina with the smallest building space, serving the nearly 700 students, 45 teachers and 30 staff members.

There is a small medical office in which the school’s nurses provide low cost medical services to as many as 200 members of the community every month.

There are currently two bathrooms, installed when the building was first constructed, available as a facility for the almost 1,000 people who enter the building every month. One bathroom, for girls, is located on the second floor, while the other bathroom, for boys, is located on the first floor.

The bathrooms are in a constant state of disrepair and do not provide adequate privacy for its users. There are no other bathroom facilities in the immediate area. Many times users refuse to use these bathrooms as they are unsanitary and unsafe for students and teachers.

The fresh and waste water systems that serve the four bathroom stalls are in need of repair. Also, users do not have adequate facilities to wash their hands after using the bathroom or before eating.

Project Description
This project is to renovate and upgrade the two bathrooms at the Stefan Cel Mare School.

The specific work to be done includes the following:

• Take out the existing 2 sinks in the boy’s bathroom as well as the eroding pipes that connect it to the central waterway.
• Remove the existing sink in the girl’s bathroom as well as the pipe that connects it to the central water system.
• Remove the existing tile on the floors of the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms.
• Purchase 4 sinks with attached faucets, 4 soap dispensers, 10 meters of standard PCP piping (with needed shutoff valves, drain extensions, drains, traps and clean-out plugs), tiling, and 2 hand dryers from Rezina’s main construction store.
• Install the new tiling in the floor of the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms.
• Install 1 sink in the existing space and the new pipes in the girls’ bathroom on the second floor of the school.
• Construct space for a second sink in the girl’s bathroom as well as the piping that will connect it to the central water line. Install second sink in this new spot.
• Install 2 sinks in the already existing spaces and the new piping in the boys’ bathroom on the first floor.
• Install soap dispensers (two for each bathroom) and hand dryers (one for each bathroom) in the walls of the girls’ and boy’s bathroom.

An engineer working with the local mayor’s office will help with the construction and installation on a voluntary basis, as his wife is the school librarian.

After construction, the school nurses and other volunteers within the school will administer health seminars to all students, advising on more acceptable ways of keeping a healthy and clean school.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 700 students, 45 teachers, and 30 staff members, in addition to 200 visitors who come to use the medical facility every month.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Katie Hiebert

Comments
This is a high-impact project that will create more sanitary conditions for the many users of Rezina’s Liceul Teoretic Stefan Cel Mare.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00 + additional amounts

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has been fully funded through the generosity of Kate Hiebert, of Chappaqua, NY, together with the help of other friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Katie Hiebert. In addition, extra funds have been received for future projects.

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

Community Description
The town of Ronkh is situated in the northwest corner of Senegal, on the border of Mauritania. Ronkh is 25 kilometers off the Route Nationale and 100 kilometers from the regional capital, Saint Louis. It is the administrative capital of its district and is home to 5,000 inhabitants, a poste de sante, two elementary schools, and a middle school. Its proximity to the Senegal River allows for year-round irrigation, and rice farming is the primary income and food source of the inhabitants.

Ronkh’s newer primary school, Ecole 2, was opened in 2000 to accommodate the expanding town’s needs. With six classes, the school currently serves approximately 300 students, 6 teachers, and a principal.

Ecole 2 lacks the foreign partnerships of Ronkh’s other two schools. As such, the principal has undertaken a great personal endeavor to ensure his school is equipped with the required materials and infrastructure. Thanks to his efforts, the school has projects either currently underway or scheduled to begin this winter that include providing the classrooms with electricity, latrine construction, and the construction and stocking of a new room to serve as a library.

Not included in the current development program, however, is access to running water. A survey conducted in spring 2010 found that of the 257 students surveyed 39% had experienced diarrhea in the past week and that 31% either did not wash their hands after relieving themselves or rinsed their hands with water only.

Project Description
This project is to provide running water for the school and to build a handwashing station next to the school’s latrines.

The town’s plumber will extend the nearest existing water pipeline approximately 150 meters. He will then construct an outdoor handwashing station, consisting of 3 robinets, which will be encased in bricks to ensure longevity.

The robinets will empty into a cement pool that will drain into the latrines’ septic tank. PVC piping, robinet hardware, and labor to dig the trenches for the pipeline will be bought with Appropriate Projects funding, while the bricks and labor needed to construct the handwashing station will be provided as an in-kind community contribution.

Following the handwashing station’s completion, the PCV and local health workers will sensitize the students on the importance of washing one’s hands with soap at critical times, using antibacterial soap provided by the school. A follow-up survey will be conducted several months down the road to determine the effectiveness of such sensitization.

Project Impact
307 people will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Sarah Kopper

Comments
Running water at the school will provide significant health benefits, including the reduction of the incidence of gastrointestinal illness due to improper hygiene.

Sarah previously completed the Ronkh Water Project – Senegal.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of The Andando Foundation.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah Kopper of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Sarah and/or those of other PCVs in the country.