Bathrooms Update

We're rolling right along with our bathrooms project. Friday we had a session with the health post about hand-washing and household hygiene, and Saturday morning we held a town clean-up with the twenty participants of the project. Here are a few pictures to introduce you to our project!




Thank you to everyone who has already donated to our project. We are already half way to our goal!

Bathrooms!

Hi everyone! I am back in Peru after a lovely ten day vacation in Boston. It was wonderful to speak english, ride the T, eat pizza and bagels, watch the Twins make an amazing comeback (and then flop in the playoffs), and of course to catch up with so many of my friends. I only wish it could have lasted a bit longer. But here in Peru there is business to be taken care of, and I am hitting the ground running with a new project that I am VERY excited about. Please take a moment to read about our project, because we can't do it without your help.

Through conversations with my community partners, we have decided that one of the most pressing health hazards in our town is the lack of bathrooms. Surveys have shown that approximately 70% of households in town have no form of bathroom whatsoever, and that families must take care of their necessities "al aire libre," as we say here- "in the open air." This leads to contamination of public spaces, waterways, and the fields where families grow their food. Needless to say, this human waste contamination is one of the primary causes of diarrhea and intestinal infections, especially among children. Unfortunately, many families lack the financial resources to construct bathrooms in their homes.

In order to combat the health hazards associated with human waste contamination, we have decided to initiate a project to construct bathrooms and promote hygienic practices. Through our project, 20 participating families will attend workshops to learn about the health hazards associated with poor sanitation and about how they can improve hygiene within their own homes. Families will also participate in two clean-ups to help reduce existing contamination in town, and the male participants will attend technical trainings to learn how to install pipes, cement floors, and construct modules for the exteriors of their bathrooms. Each family that completes these requirements will then receive materials, including pipes, cement, wood, and aluminum siding, to complete construction of a bathroom within their own home.

We need your help to make this project possible! Through the Peace Corps Partnership Program we are hoping to raise $2,800 dollars to purchase all the necessary materials to construct 20 bathrooms. If you are interested in making a donation, please visit the link below:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=527-010

All donations go directly towards my project, and every little bit helps. A donation of just $20 provides the floor of a bathroom, so please take a moment to check it out!