Water Pump
The summary below was provided by the Peace Corps Volunteer and the community administering this project.
Map of BENIN
Water is the single most important part of life. Without water, one cannot survive, and without potable water, one cannot function. One village's newly built school, three years running, has not been able to fund a water source for the affected school's community, which consists of students, teachers, parents and food vendors, approximately 700 people. The placement of the school is between one and 6 kilometers away from the village center and other neighboring villages where the students reside. Six days a week, the students walk the distance to and from school twice a day, which is quite tiresome. Upon arrival, there is no source of water. The objective of this project is to build a well with a foot pump to provide potable, tested water for the school's community, and the outcome will be less illness associated with consuming unclean water.
Outside of the construction, this school has broader objectives for the project. With participation from local teachers and health workers, the school would like to begin a garden to teach proper nutrition to students, and they would like to build hand washing stations to teach good hygienic practices, all of which cannot be accomplished without a water source. In addition to sensitizing the school community on the consumption of potable water in order to prevent common diseases, these projected projects will also be providing the community with lifelong knowledge of nutrition and hygiene.
This Peace Corps Volunteer wishes to work together with community members to provide a sustainable water source for this promising school.
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