Project
Maximo Gomez Batey 2
Project Complete!
Established in 1995, this school is located in a poor agricultural community primarily made up of Haitian immigrant sugar cane day laborers. The school praises itself as being an extension of family, more so than just a school, with teachers going above and beyond to help care for students. Children live in abject poverty and are unable to get proper medical treatment. Often left at home alone while parents try and find work, the school has become a refuge for children. Students are relatively well engaged in their education and are excited at the prospect of a sister school.
With funding from H2O for Life, our implementing partner- World Water Relief (WWR), installed a water filtration system and established a WASH (Water, sanitation and hygiene education) curriculum in the classroom in 2016. They oversees all maintenance monthly and have a strong presence at this batey. The director of the school is very supportive of WWR and its mission and demonstrates that commitment by making sure the children are monitored while using the system which prevents unnecessary repairs and also reinforces the WASH curriculum when our team is not present.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
· Install an overhang above hand-washing/food prep area
· Repaint housing building and hand washing station
· Clean out cistern
· Annual maintenance
· Repaint housing building and hand washing station
· Clean out cistern
· Annual maintenance
An overhang at Batey 2 is desired in the open space between the kitchen, the cistern, and the back wall which has the drinking fountain. This space is used by the women of the school to wash dishes, prep for lunches and breakfast, and to prepare for cleaning. The women spend an incredible amount of time in the direct Caribbean sun, and by placing this tin roof above the space, we are not only reducing exposure to the drinking fountain, but we are improving their quality of life while at work.
A cistern is a large tank where the limited water supply for the school can be collected while awaiting the electricity to reach this batey. Electricity runs on a grid for periods of typically 4 hours at a time. Without a cistern, there is no guarantee that water and power are present at the same time. The director of this particular school has been having trouble soliciting funds from the ministry of education in order to do a proper cleaning of the cistern. By keeping the cistern clean, we are ensuring that the water going in to the system is free of debris and heavy algae collections due to heat are removed which adversely affect the quality of the water.
Fresh paint to the housing building, and the hand washing station are necessary annually as the direct sun fades the paint and logo tremendously. WWR has been collaborating with host schools/sponsors to incorporate beautiful murals on the systems to brighten the space.
Annual Maintenance is an essential part of the WWR mission and allows for each system to be monitored monthly for general repairs due to heavy use and exposure, quarterly filter changes, annual UV lamp changes, shocking of the tinaco (holding tank) and water testing.
A cistern is a large tank where the limited water supply for the school can be collected while awaiting the electricity to reach this batey. Electricity runs on a grid for periods of typically 4 hours at a time. Without a cistern, there is no guarantee that water and power are present at the same time. The director of this particular school has been having trouble soliciting funds from the ministry of education in order to do a proper cleaning of the cistern. By keeping the cistern clean, we are ensuring that the water going in to the system is free of debris and heavy algae collections due to heat are removed which adversely affect the quality of the water.
Fresh paint to the housing building, and the hand washing station are necessary annually as the direct sun fades the paint and logo tremendously. WWR has been collaborating with host schools/sponsors to incorporate beautiful murals on the systems to brighten the space.
Annual Maintenance is an essential part of the WWR mission and allows for each system to be monitored monthly for general repairs due to heavy use and exposure, quarterly filter changes, annual UV lamp changes, shocking of the tinaco (holding tank) and water testing.
H2O for Life is not a WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) project implementer. We have partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) implementing WASH in Schools projects around the world. Our NGO partners match funds needed for each school project. We also have a generous donor that provides us with an interest-free loan that, along with matching funds, allows for many projects to be started or possibly even completed before total funds have been raised. In rare situations we reserve the right to reallocate funds to alternate project(s).
Questions? Ask us at 651-756-7577 or info@h2oforlifeschools.org.
