THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

thanks to all who donated to the health hut renovation grant! thanks to your amazing generosity we got the whole thing funded in under a week!!! I´m in Dindefelo right now updating the blog from my friends remote internet connection because I wanted to thank everyone immediately! I´m running (well biking) back to site tomorrow to tell them we can start the construction immediately!!!! Thanks again! I´ll keep you all fully posted on the details of the renovations

Health Hut Expansion and Renovation Grant, PLEASE DONATE TO HELP

Hi Everyone, so I’ve been mentioning the Health Hut in my town and the upcoming renovations that my counterpart and I have been planning. Last month we finalized the details of the plan and completed the budget. Now I need your help. The grant we have written is called a Peace Corps Partnership Grant and is funded solely by friends and family who donate directly through the Peace Corps’ website. In the next few paragraphs I’m going to describe the project in better detail for you.

Some quick background info on my town: Pelel Kindessa is a rural community of around 1,100 people is located in the region of Kedougou, in south-eastern Senegal. There are no businesses or shops in the town and nearly every family farms to make a living. Since there are no means of income beyond small subsistence farming there is not enough money in the town to expand their health hut to a point where it can finally begin serving the community.

Pelel Kindessa’s single room health hut has neither the space nor the resources to function as the town’s health center. As a consequence the villagers must travel 7km down an extremely rough dirt road to the nearest Health Post in the neighboring town, Dindefelo. Even with the newly trained staff the lack of space is preventing the hut from operating as it should. Recently, solar panels that were donated by another NGO a year ago were installed on a neighboring hut, since the current health hut’s walls were not sufficient. As a fortunate consequence the owner of this neighboring hut has agreed to donate it as part of the expansion project. This new hut houses the solar panel equipment and would serve perfectly as the office and pharmacy/medical supply area. There is exactly enough space in between the two huts for a third, creating one large structure for the health building.

the existing health hut to the left, the space in between for the expansion, and the newly added hut to the right with the solar panels

a really bad 'blueprint' explaining the existing huts (yellow) and the area of expansion (green)

Three rooms; one for child birth, one for other patient treatment/observation, and one for the office and medical supplies. This expansion includes a permanent metal roof which will protect the structure for years to come. It will also provide adequate space for the newly trained mid-wife to work, room for general medical visits, space for the new patient beds and sufficient room for the pharmacy stock and administrative items. In addition to the building expansion we plan to deepen the well to ensure year-around access to water.

Dabi Souare, my counterpart, and the town’s ASC (Agent Sante Communitaire, or community health worker) is the driving individual behind this project. He built the current health hut and neighboring hut with the solar panels in his compound and will be directing the construction of the expansion to combine the two into one building. Villagers from each of the 5 neighborhoods of Pelel and members of the health committee will be helping with the construction as well as supply and transport such items as sand, rocks and wooden beams. Many of those workers who will be doing the actual construction have all agreed to take a percentage off of their fees to contribute towards the completion of our project, and a local Tourist Hotel in neighboring Dindefelo has donated money in addition to some money put forth by the local municipality.

Now, my plea for your help and your money. My villagers and I need your help to improve their rural health care access. Hopefully everything I’ve written above (and sorry I tend to ramble and it’s not concise at all), will have painted a complete picture of what we’re trying to accomplish in Pelel. Our grant request is small only about $800 and we’re hoping that with your help and the help of anyone you wish to refer these links to, we can reach this goal quickly, allowing us to complete the expansion and renovations before this year’s rainy season starts in May-June.

So please if you’re considering helping out, the link to donate is located on a personalized Peace Corps web page at this by clicking HERE. The box to donate is found on the right hand side of the page and is a quick process. And in addition, please forward the link to this blog post anyone that you think would like to contribute. The villagers of Pelel Kindessa and I thank you in advance!

again the link to donate: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-165

two models of roughly what the finished health hut will look like

the roof on the right will be slanted in another direction to accommodate the existing solar panels

1 year anniversary in Africa!

Well 1 year ago today I landed in Dakar and began this crazy journey. Lots of stuff happened, but no need for a recap, I know you all diligently read this blog.

Just some village/work related news. I’m now working with 3 active gardening groups in Pellel, the Women’s Group in my neighborhood, one in the far out neighborhood of Pellel called Tanege, and one at the school with the students. Got a well funded by appropriateprojects.com (you can view my project here ) We’ve already completed the well digging and a local NGO AfriCare will be donating a rope pump after we cap the well. Enjoy some photos below.

some of the Jam Weli Women's Group Garden with the vegetable nursery

the new well that was dug next to the Women's Group Garden

the vegetable nursery at the school garden

the students and teachers at the school garden after our transplanting work party

the very beautifully kept beds at the Tanege Pellel Women's Group Garden

I’ve recently submitted the budget and grant proposal for the Health Hut renovations, more on that when the Dakar office finishes processing it and it moves on to Washington.