Water Source and Latrine for Village Garden
Donation protected
Hi, this is Mary Franke. I served as a Peace Corps volunteer inThe Gambia, West Africa from October 2018- March 2020, until I was evacuated due to COVID-19. I lived in a village called Sita Huma with the Fula tribe with a population of aprox. 300 people.
Garden
(Left to right: Sira, Hawa Dullo, Hawa, Bintou, Anse, Sunkaru, Gibe, Mary aka Kadijatou, Fatou, Busel, Hawa and Fatoumata)
Garden helpers
(Left to right: Habby, Kaddy, Hawa, Abdou, Ceesay)
The village’s main source of income is gardening (vegetables, bananas, mangos) and farming (coos-similar to millet- and peanuts). After conducting a Needs Assessment in 2018, the community declared their #1 priority as creating a community garden.
In January 2020, Sita Huma built a garden fence made out of metal, because the termites ate the previous fence made out of wood. With women and men interested, they call it the Sita Huma Community Garden. The village organized a garden committee, opened a bank account and declared rules for garden participation.
Women clearing the land inside newly fenced area (Bintou, Sira, Sira, Fatoumata)
Hawa and Fatou standing by new fence
Garden Committee (Fatoumata, Hawa, Hawa, Sira, Musu, Sunkaru, Jennaba)
I was working with the community to apply for a solar water pump for the garden when I got evacuated due to COVID. The garden has old wells that people are using right now which demonstrate the people's determination to garden. However, fetching water from the wells is both tiring and time consuming.
With your help, we can work with the community of Sita Huma to obtain a solar water system (borehole) for the community garden along with reservoirs that hold the water. The funds will also be used to construct a latrine for the gardeners. The addition of a borehole in the garden will provide increased food security and profit for the community.
The community of Sita Huma -myself included- is grateful for any contribution that you are able to make at this time. It is a great honor for me to communicate the well wishes of the GoFundMe supporters to Sita Huma community members.
Deadline for donations: December 31, 2020
To see more of my experience via a 5 minute video click here: TheGambiaVideo
Vegetables that grow in The Gambia include: sweet pepper, hot pepper, eggplant, tomato, bitter tomato, okra, hibiscus, potato, watermelon, pumpkin, cabbage, cucumbers, mint, cassava, peanuts, coos, corn
Community meeting to discuss garden
Community leader, Geli Yero Bah, and myself
Ideal Future Water Source:
This is an example of a solar powered water tank (borehole)
This is an example of a reservoir within a garden
This is a close up of the tap from the borehole filling up a reservoir
Current water source
Please contact me if you wish to see an itemized budget for this project.
Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Mary Franke
Garden(Left to right: Sira, Hawa Dullo, Hawa, Bintou, Anse, Sunkaru, Gibe, Mary aka Kadijatou, Fatou, Busel, Hawa and Fatoumata)
Garden helpers (Left to right: Habby, Kaddy, Hawa, Abdou, Ceesay)
The village’s main source of income is gardening (vegetables, bananas, mangos) and farming (coos-similar to millet- and peanuts). After conducting a Needs Assessment in 2018, the community declared their #1 priority as creating a community garden.
In January 2020, Sita Huma built a garden fence made out of metal, because the termites ate the previous fence made out of wood. With women and men interested, they call it the Sita Huma Community Garden. The village organized a garden committee, opened a bank account and declared rules for garden participation.
Women clearing the land inside newly fenced area (Bintou, Sira, Sira, Fatoumata)Hawa and Fatou standing by new fenceGarden Committee (Fatoumata, Hawa, Hawa, Sira, Musu, Sunkaru, Jennaba)I was working with the community to apply for a solar water pump for the garden when I got evacuated due to COVID. The garden has old wells that people are using right now which demonstrate the people's determination to garden. However, fetching water from the wells is both tiring and time consuming.
With your help, we can work with the community of Sita Huma to obtain a solar water system (borehole) for the community garden along with reservoirs that hold the water. The funds will also be used to construct a latrine for the gardeners. The addition of a borehole in the garden will provide increased food security and profit for the community.
The community of Sita Huma -myself included- is grateful for any contribution that you are able to make at this time. It is a great honor for me to communicate the well wishes of the GoFundMe supporters to Sita Huma community members.
Deadline for donations: December 31, 2020
To see more of my experience via a 5 minute video click here: TheGambiaVideo
Vegetables that grow in The Gambia include: sweet pepper, hot pepper, eggplant, tomato, bitter tomato, okra, hibiscus, potato, watermelon, pumpkin, cabbage, cucumbers, mint, cassava, peanuts, coos, corn
Community meeting to discuss gardenCommunity leader, Geli Yero Bah, and myself Ideal Future Water Source:
This is an example of a solar powered water tank (borehole) This is an example of a reservoir within a gardenThis is a close up of the tap from the borehole filling up a reservoir Current water source
Please contact me if you wish to see an itemized budget for this project.
Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Mary Franke
Organiser
Mary Franke
Organiser
Kansas City, MO