Uganda

Community Description
Madera is a medium-sized village located 5 km NE of Soroti Town, Soroti District, Teso sub-region, Uganda.

St. Francis School for the Blind was established in 1983 as a private school. In that same year, the school received official government aided status. It was founded by the Little Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi in order to provide visually challenged students with formal O-level and A-level education.

St. Francis is a mixed boarding school for both boys and girls between the ages of 15 and 24. In 2008, the school established Advanced level teaching. The first students sat for the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations in 2009.

The school’s mission is “To assist children with visual impairment disabilities regardless of tribe, religion, or sex, by providing them with specialized secondary education along with vocational and life skills for future community placement.” The motto is “Disability is not inability!

Project Description
This project is to renovate the latrines and install a rainwater harvesting tank at the school.

The work on the latrines will be at a newly-developed site, as the old site contains crumbling buildings, bad infrastructure and not enough space. The new site requires proper bathroom and bathing facilities.

As of now, the new site has a latrine building. However, it needs upgrades and add-ons before the visually-impaired students can use it.

The school administration and staff have decided the following work needs to be done:

• Change the latrine cisterns from rusted metal to long-lasting ceramic models. 
• Install a rainwater harvesting tank with hand pump which can be used as a back-up water source in times of municipal water shortage (which happens quite often).

The school has the tank but it needs to be repainted. The school also plans to use leftover materials from other construction projects to build the concrete slab upon which the tank will sit.

Appropriate Projects funds will be used to repaint the tank, buy a hand pump, and replace the metal cisterns with ceramic ones.

The work will be done by construction laborers who already live and work on the school property. School staff will provide additional assistance, and students will help, within their level of visual impairment.

The school is planning follow-up projects for the future, including a handwashing station outside of the latrines and hand rails in the latrines for use by the visually-impaired students.

A series of life skills lessons based health and hygiene will be presented.

Project Impact
Approximately 250 community members will benefit from the project, including 90 visually-impaired students, 30 staff, 40 local teachers from neighboring schools who will be using the facilities every week, and 10 visitors per day.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Chelsea Milko

Comments
This project provides a sanitary latrine and a stand-by water supply for the use of the students, staff, and visitors. It will improve the health and wellbeing of the community members who regularly use the facilities.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.000

Donations Collected to Date
$25.00

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
$530.000

Community Description
Kayunga District is a rural district located in Central Uganda along the River Nile. The residents of Kayunga District are very ethnically diverse: There are 52 different tribes that comprise Kayunga District.

The majority of the population belongs to the Buganda Tribe of central Uganda, Banyala Tribe, and refugee populations from other East and Central African countries fleeing hardship. Most of the population earns their living through farming a variety of crops, herding livestock, and fishing along the River Nile and in Lake Kyoga located in northern Kayunga District.

Kayunga District Youth Center was established in 2006 to build District capacity in identifying and providing HIV prevention, care and treatment services to the surrounding population of Kayunga District. The objective of the youth center is to build infrastructure, capacity, and systems of local public and private partners in central Uganda to ensure sustainable, quality, comprehensive HIV and other health-related services for the surrounding communities. The Youth Center Staffs daily go to rural health centers to service the populations for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, TB assessment and referral, and malaria prevention.

The handwashing stations located at health centers throughout the District are lacking. Though handwashing is taught at health centers and stressed for clinical workers, it has become apparent that the means to keep a person’s hands clean is unavailable. Having unclean hands after using a latrine can lead to a variety of fecal to oral transmissible diseases such as cholera, typhoid, giardia and other gastro-intestinal problems which greatly affect people accessing health care who most likely already have a weakened immune system.

Project Description
This project is to build 16 handwashing stations in health centers around Kayunga District, Kayunga District Hospital, and Kayunga District Youth Center.

The handwashing stations at Kayunga District Hospital will be located at each of the three latrines as well as located in all five wards.

In addition, handwashing cards will be laminated and placed at the handwashing stations to direct proper technique. The cards will be in written in the local language of Luganda as well as English, which is the national language.

Members of Kayunga District Youth Center will go to the health centers to set up the handwashing stations as well as give health talks on the proper way to wash hands. They will also train a health official at the centers on how to give the sanitation talks.

The handwashing stations will each be comprised of a 20-liter tank on top of a metal stand. The tank will have a nozzle for maintaining a stream of water while hands are being washed. There will also be a soap shelf located on the metal stand. The laminated card will be attached to the 20-liter tank at eye level.

The health centers all have a local source of water that will be used to keep the handwashing stations full. The health officials at the different centers will also be in charge of keeping the tanks full.

The project funds will be used to buy the materials to build the handwashing stations: 20 liter tanks, nozzles, metal frames as well as the lamination fee for the hand washing cards.

Project Impact
This project will benefit the following people on average:

• Kayunga District Hospital:  350 people per week
• Kayunga District Youth Center:  140 people per week
• Health Center IV (2 Total):  280 people per week
• Health Center III (3 Total):  545 people per week
• Health Center II (2 Total):  270 people per week

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Rebecca Workman

Comments
This project will lead to the improvement of the hygiene of the patients and staff of the health centers as well as the children and youth using the facilities. It is designed for extremely high impact for the funds expended, and is being implemented to serve for many years to come.

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
Ngora District has a total population of 102,000. The area is rural, and the people depend on peasant farming and cattle keeping.

Half of the population is under 15 years of age. The literacy rate is at 62% of the population above 10 years of age. Only 6% live in house units with permanent roof materials. 57% of households receive information by “word of mouth” and 39% have a radio set. 99% use firewood or charcoal for cooking.

There are several primary and secondary schools in the county, a primary teacher training college, a hospital with a nurses’ training school, vibrant trading centers and a township. However, less than twenty pupils pass in grade one at the national primary leaving examinations, and very few enter university.

Ngora County is adversely affected by climate change and environmental degradation. The population has suffered from two decades of insurgency and civil and armed conflicts. There is declining agricultural production, poor health and nutrition, sad memories and trauma of living in camps, and loss of property and human life. As life returns to normal, there is a need to fight the deprivation and to promote reconciliation, reintegration and psychological adjustment to new life.

The St. Anthony's Health Center II, which serves the medical needs of the community and 3 neighboring schools, does not have adequate sanitation facilities.

Project Description
The project is to construct a latrine for the St. Anthony's Health Center II. The structure will be built to accommodate four stalls, each with a separate door.

Health center staff already began the project by digging a pit 6 feet wide x 20 feet long x 10 feet deep.

The bottom of the pit was lined with concrete. The pit was walled with bricks up to flush with ground level (Plinth Wall). About 2,600 bricks and 20 bags of cement were used for this step.

A solid concrete slab, reinforced with rebar and weld mesh, will be poured to create a top for the latrine

All of the waste will be retained within the latrine. A hole in the back will allow removal of the waste.

The walls will be built with 1,300 bricks and 10 bags of cement, and will later be plastered and painted on the outside. 20 vent bricks will be placed at the tops of the walls to allow airflow.

The roof will use treated 2 x 3 and 2 x 4 beams to hold the 7 iron sheets. Because wood beyond 8 feet is very rare, hoop irons will be used to combine pieces securely.

The bricklaying process is being completed by a friend of the parish. The building process will be completed by students of the vocational school (St. Borgheuls Vocational School), who are completing the work at reduced rate. All members of the staff and the community at large will help with the labor.

A company in Ngora, which specializes in the removal of waste from specially designed latrines to make and sell fertilizer for nearby farmers, will empty the latrine when needed.

Project Impact
This project will benefit 1,557 people, consisting of 985 students at 3 adjacent schools, 550 people in the nearby community, 10 health center staff, and 12 parish staff.

The health center sees about 12,000 separate visitors each year.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Matthew Boddie

Comments
The project was designed for sustainability. The latrines will provide effective sanitation to a large number of people.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has been fully funded, through the generosity of Marcia Wijngaarden, of Den Haag, Netherlands, with the help of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Matthew Boddie.

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

Community Description
From 1996-2001 Kasese experience a civil war between its government and local rebels. Hundreds of people lost limbs due to landmines.

This project is being carried out under the auspices of Rwenzori Empowerment Center-Kasese (RECKLAS). For the past eight years, RECKLAS has been providing a multitude of services to community members in Kasese who are physically disabled.

The project is directed toward people who have lost one or both legs to landmines in the area, and are already enrolled in the RECKLAS program.

Thus far, RECKLAS has provided more than 200 victims with counseling, new limbs and shoes, rehabilitation and much more. These limbs have made a significant difference in the lives of these survivors, as they are now able to work, take care of their families and move around without assistance.

Because of their location, disability, and income level almost all of these people use pit latrines of the type that is used all over Uganda. One basic function that these victims are still struggling with is the use of the latrine.

The latrines in use are just a small hole in the ground that the user squats over. For those with disabilities (most of them without one or both legs) it becomes very difficult to balance themselves to properly use the latrine.

Project Description
This project is to construct latrine seats for the RECKLAS participants. Prototypes have been built and tested, and have been found to provide great assistance for the users.

The latrine seat is a wooden box seat that fits over a latrine hole. It gives the disabled a comfortable place to sit while using the latrine in a sanitary way. These seats will restore a sense of dignity and normalcy to the disabled, because they will be able to perform this function without assistance.

The latrine seat is constructed of wood by local craftsmen. It is completely waterproofed to ensure easy cleaning. It also includes a cover to keep out the flies, and will lead to a good sanitation teaching session.

Project Impact
This project will empower and give dignity to 46 people, who will be able to use latrines in a convenient manner, without assistance.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Peace Corps Volunteer Bailey Shook works directly with RECKLAS, and is managing this project

Comments
This is a high-impact project, providing wellbeing and dignity to a segment of Uganda society devastated by the impact of civil unrest. It is the first project of Appropriate Projects aimed at serving the disabled population.

The project holds the promise of even greater impact beyond the great immediate benefit to the recipients. If this pilot project is well received and continues to be beneficial to its users, it can be replicated elsewhere.

The manufacture and distribution of the latrine seat could potentially be developed as a small business from which revenue can be derived and jobs created.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

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.

Dollar Amount Needed
$500.00

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

We are still accepting donations to replenish our project fund and to enable the further work of PVC Shook and her counterparts in Uganda.