The kids are responsible for fetching clean water
So, as many of you know last year I fixed the school pump thanks to donations sent in from my friends and family through African Sky (www.africansky.org). As a result of this project, I found out that the other Vergnet foot pump was broken in another section of my village. Come to find out it had been broken for 5 years! So, this time I thought that if the village wanted this pump fixed, they were going to have to work for it a little bit. I held a meeting with the Chief of the Village, and the rest of the water committee and presented them a plan. Per Peace Corps rules for projects, the community has to come of with 1/3 of the cost of the project. I like this idea and told them they needed to come up with 98,000cfa, approx $220USD. To my surprise they came out with that amount in 1 week! It was amazing. I just had to wait on funding from the US, and then the work started!
Now, I have been in contact with a Malian that is in the US playing basketball. He had people that wanted to help out people in his region have access to clean water! PERFECT! So , thanks to Mohamed Tangara, and Ryan Hogue for their contribution to helping 600+ people have access to clean water. The pump is in the center of 6 different quartiers in Kamona.
What's even more exciting about this is when I initially went to price the parts for the pump, and when we actually went to buy them, the prices went down! So, with the extra money we were able to build soak pits and 2 cloths washing areas! What are soak pits? It's basically a 2 meter hole in the ground that acts as a place for all the run off water go to. If there is not a soak pit, the dirty water collects, mosquitos and bees gather= chance for malaria and other diseases to be contracted. Not good.
The wash area is great because if not in a cemented area, the women are washing their cloths on the ground, in a muddy area. Not an ideal situation for cleaning cloths!
So, thanks again for everyones support. My time here in Mali as a Peace Corps Volunteer is winding down! Thanks for everyones support while I've been here!
