Friends of Penyem for Education and Development, Inc.: 2007

From our Newsletter - Success at Last: Solar-Powered Water System Installed

The engineer flipped the switch and we waited anxiously as the low hum of the pump system grew louder. We wrapped our hands around the water pipe, hoping to feel the water course through it. At first nothing happened. But then it did and within seconds we felt and heard over 80 liters a minute of clean water flowing up into the two holding tanks located high above the solar panel field. For the first time in four years the villagers could believe it was happening. Penyem Village had water! Life would not be the same as before. “We have water!” shouted the group of villagers who had gathered around the village’s new functioning solar-powered water system. Tears welled in the eyes of our team members and the young boys and girls splashing in the water spilling out of the tank. The women were laughing. It was the culmination of two years of emotional hard work for our team, and a pivotal moment in the daily lives of the villagers.

As dramatic as it may seem, people in Africa have real reason to be emotional about water. Sufficient access to clean water is, according to many economists and public health experts, the number one challenge facing the developing world. Over 1 billion people (nearly 20% of the world’s population) don’t have the access to clean water that they need to thrive. Often the clean water is there–just a few meters below the surface–but developing countries lack the infrastructure to tap into it. Penyem Village, population 1,500, in The Gambia, West Africa is case in point. Penyem Village is actually ahead of many small villages in The Gambia because they received a donation 17 years ago from another non-profit organization to install a solar-powered water system. However, the pump system irreparably broke 4 years ago and the village had been without access to adequate water ever since.

Since the system went down, it has been catch-as-catch-can in the village. Most family compounds hand dug shallow wells and the village increased its reliance on a decades-old hand-pump in the center of the village. Unfortunately, shallow wells are a primary reason people get sick or die from cholera, giardia, and other water-borne illnesses. Additionally, the limited access to water prevents advancing economic prosperity. Many women and girls spend an hour or more a day just fetching water in buckets for cooking, bathing, and drinking. Further, since the water system broke in Penyem, all banana farming has disappeared and the community vegetable garden, which generated extra income for families, has turned into an empty, dry dust lot.

Thus, Friends of Penyem decided that replacing the water system was our number one priority. After two years of work, contracts with two separate engineering firms, one creative way to salvage the existing solar panels, two news pumps, a new pump control system and $15,000+ of contributions from generous donors, the village has water! The village now enjoys a system with daily pumping capacity of over 80,000 liters of water– over 50 liters per villager, which is more than enough to meet existing needs and have excess capacity for farming and other economic activities.

GAM-Solar: A Key Partner in the Search for Water

One of the great side benefits from our work on the water system is the relationship we have created with GAM-Solar, a locally-owned and operated solar-powered water system engineering firm. Hans Noteboom, the Dutch-born engineer who is GAM-Solar’s founder, and his Gambian team of engineers are a shining example of the kind of trustworthy and capable commercial enterprise that Africa badly needs. Not only did GAM-Solar successfully repair the system where others had failed, they also, with our help, negotiated a maintenance contract with the village to ensure that the water system does not go off-line again. The maintenance contract is funded by the villagers who use the water, therefore putting in place the proper incentives to conserve water and perform preventative maintenance. In addition, the contract introduces a market-based approach to water usage in the village–an important concept in a region where progress is often slowed by the perverse incentives created with shared infrastructure.

As an organization we feel that our relationships with GAM-Solar and with Gambian government officials and our growing understanding of how to accomplish projects in the developing world will be important assets as we pursue new projects.

Thank you again for your financial support in bringing water back to Penyem and we look forward to more success together in 2008!

From our Newsletter - Hawa Jallow: Profile of a Scholarship Recipient

In 2007, Friends of Penyem made it a priority to continue our efforts to extend scholarships to deserving students within Penyem village. This year, with the help of our generous donors, we were thrilled to support eleven students in their studies with scholarships for the 2007 – 2008 school year. Our scholarship recipients are pursuing studies in a range of areas, such as nursing, teaching, and law – all with the intention of using the skills they develop to give back to the village in a substantial way.

Hawa Jallow is one of our scholarship recipients this year. Hawa was born in Penyem Village, and lives in a house with her parents, one brother, and one sister. Her parents are farmers, and according to Howa, “Me and my family receive money through farming. We grow crops during the rainy season and when they are ripe we harvest them and sell them to earn our annual income." This income, however, was not enough to support her education expenses, so Ms. Jallow applied for a Friends of Penyem scholarship. She is now enrolled in the Management Development Institute in Kanifig, with the goal of completing courses up to the Graduate Diploma Level.

Hawa Jallow has big hopes for her village, and wants to contribute to the development of Penyem. Among her thoughts, Ms. Jallow would like to operate a credit union in the village, where she will employ residents of Penyem. In addition, she wants to introduce a Rural Development Association that will focus on health, education and business issues within the village. Completing her courses is the first step necessary for Hawa to achieve her goal of running a business, and Friends of Penyem is delighted to support her in her journey.

From our Newsletter - Launching a Library: A Learning Experience

This year, Friends of Penyem helped the village create a library for use by the residents of Penyem and neighboring villages. Our hope was that a village library would promote education by providing a location where students could gather to study under electric lights, as well as the opportunity to read books that would not otherwise be available to the village. With the help of our donors and volunteers, Friends of Penyem raised $2,000 and collected over 1,000 donated books.

In May 2007, Friends of Penyem and village volunteers transformed a raw space in an empty village building into a library. The volunteers cleaned the building, patched holes in the walls, painted, set up a battery powered lighting system, and purchased desks and chairs from a local carpenter. On the final night of the trip, the library was officially opened. Volunteers and residents alike were very excited about the presence of the library and the books and were sure it would change the lives of the residents of Penyem in a substantial way.

Since our trip, Friends of Penyem has eagerly awaited updates on how the library project has progressed. We have learned that library has come up against several challenges which the village and Friends of Penyem are working to overcome. A local person was nominated by the Village Development Committee to act as a salaried librarian, and while he has opened the library every day, we have received word that the students are no longer using the library. We are currently working with local representatives to devise strategies for increasing student interest in the library.

One thing that we’ve learned as a team about working in development is that not everything we set out to do works according to plan. As we learned before with our water project, we may lose some battles in the short term, but being flexible and perseverant can allow us to reach our goals in the long-term. We have experienced setbacks in our library project, and our hope is that with a better understanding of the reasons for the lack of use of the library we will be able to promote the use of the facility once again.

From our Newsletter - Looking Ahead: Securing the Women's Garden

One of Friends of Penyem’s next projects is to build a permanent fence to surround the Women's Garden in Penyem village. The Women’s Garden is the area in Penyem in which women plant crops to sell in the marketplace. Each year, the women team up to build a "local fence" around the garden in order to protect their crops from being eaten by scavenging animals. Local fences are made of twigs and grass from the bush, are easily penetrated by cows, goats and other animals that eat the women's crops down to a nub, and usually need to be re-built annually. Growing and selling crops is an important source of revenue for the women in Penyem and such revenue helps to pay for clothing, shoes, school fees, and other necessities for their families. Women in Penyem village are largely financially responsible for their children's expenses. While the new water pump system will allow the women to greatly increase their farming output, this advancement will not be completely realized if the women can't find a permanent solution to keep the animals out of the Women’s Garden.

The village women's group, called Soforai Women's Association (which means "come together") is interested in setting up a microfinance loan from Friends of Penyem to support the construction of the fence. The women who use the enclosed garden can then use proceeds from their gardening to pay down the loan over time. Once it is paid off, the capital from the loan can be re-deployed to another project to promote economic development for women in the village.

Eleven Scholarships Awarded for 2007-2008!

The FOP 2007-2008 Scholarship Recipients have been announced! We are very proud to support these students in their studies in the 2007-2008 academic year. Thanks to all our donors who made it possible!

name: Ebrima Nyassi
grade: 7
school: Penyem Upper Basic School

name: Fatou Sanyang
grade: 12
school: Sheikh Hamdan Senior Secondary School
dream job: nurse and midwife

name: Isatou Nyassi
grade: 10
school: Kairaba Senior Secondary School
dream job: journalist or lawyer

name: Ansumana Jarju
grade: 12
school: Muslim Senior School
dream job: electrician

name: Jerreh Jarju
grade: 11
school: Seffo Senior Secondary School

name: Simon Gomez
grade: 12
school: Mahad Senior School

name: Hawa Jallow
grade: 2nd year
school: Management Develepment Institute
degree: Business Management

name: Fatou Janneh
grade: 1st year
school: The Gambia College
degree: Qualified Teacher

Back from Penyem

Our wonderful group of volunteers has returned from our trip to Penyem, and we bring news of great success. The water system is working! And the FOP team was incredibly successful in creating a basic library for the village. A few pictures are posted here, and more will be posted later.

The pump was lowered about 30 feet into the borehole. A second pump will be installed in the next few weeks in the same borehole above this pump, and will double the potential output of the water system. This will allow the village residents to use the water distribution system not only for drinking, cooking, cleaning and bathing, but also for small-scale gardening, which is a valuable source of economic enrichment for village families.

WATER!!

Robin reads to some boys from the village.

The finished library. About 1,000 more books will arrive on a container ship in mid-July to supplement those we carried with us in our luggage (pictured).

THANKS to all our donors and volunteers who donated money or books to make these efforts possible. It is difficult to convey how thankful the village is for the water system and the library. Having enough water will change the village dramatically - we can't wait to return to see what good the water has enabled. And access to books will open many new doors for village students and adults. Abaraka!

Project Village Library

We've received a budget proposal from the Village Development Commitee (VDC), and planning for the Project Village Library is in full swing.

In addition to raising money for furniture and refurbishing of the building we are converting to a library, we also need to collect and transport 500-750 books to fill the library. We need mostly children's books, books for young adults, text book and instructional books, etc. If you have any resources to help, please contact braeblackley@gmail.com.

You can donate to Project Village Library by contacting a board member or visiting www.active.com/donate/teampenyem

Thanks for your support!

May 2007 - FOP Volunteers

The slate of all-star 2007 Penyem volunteers has been finalized. We have a great group of 10 volunteers, most of whom are students at HBS with Seth and Robin. We will travel to The Gambia for 10 days (May 15th-25th), spending 7 nights in the village converting an un-used building into a library for the village. Here is the crew:

Carolyn Huang
Sharmil Modi
Martin Gilkes
Leila Heidari
Libby Cantrill
Nathan Barbour
Chris Chan
Robin Cherry
Seth Blackley
Brae Blackley

Thank You Letter

Here is a Thank You letter from the village sent to me by email. If you double click the image, it will get bigger so that you can read it more easily.

Nyima and Friends

Here are some pictures from Nyima's visit to Boston.

Nyima had never experienced cold weather before. On her third day in Boston, it snowed!

Team Penyem in Hyannis at Ardeo Restaurant for a pre-race pasta dinner.

Nyima with some conference participants.

Nyima is Here

Nyima has just completed the Harvard Kennedy School of Government International Bridge Builders Conference. In attendance were many women and men from around the world who discussed their problems and the solutions they have discovered in their own communities. Nyima is here with me now, and will answer some questions for our blog readers:

This is the first time you have left West Africa. How do you like the U.S.?

It is a nice place. People are so friendly, though the weather is cold! People have been taking care of me in all ways.

What did you think about the Bridge Builders Conference? What did you learn that you will take back with you to Penyem?

What I learned from the Bridge Builders is something very useful. If I go back to continue with what I am doing, since I have been meeting many many lecturers who are very good, they are helping us to know how to move into the right channel on what we are doing. As I am working with women groups, it wil help me alot because I am trying to put them in the right channel in terms of development. What I learned here is that there are many people who are willing to help me on that - especially on the finance side.

Also, we have many women in my country who are needing help with that. They are needing money to help them. And the skills - we already know how to do it, but we want to improve on that - to have more styles - because the styles we are having are the only one. But we want to have more training in skills so that we can have more changes in the styles.

And the market is a problem. As I am the leader of the women in the district, I have been training all women on the same skills. We are going to have problems on the market side, when all the women can do the same skills. I can do it - you can do it - and who is going to buy it? If it would be possible to have a market outside the country, that would help the groups.

Here I learned a lot. I have been meeting students and discussing many things with them. I learned that education is very important because education changes everything. In our village, I support education and for Friends of Penyem to help children in their education - to have schooling up to high school, institutes, even up to university level. If the children are educated, they will be ready to changethe village in any way. So education is my first priority. They told us about Harvard, and how it was a small village. Imagine from that day to today - how the place has changed. It is because of education. If you want to help me help them, don't give me money for food, give me something to help me do something that I have - with my education, train me with something that is useful.

Friends of Penyem is giving scholarships to students in the village to help with education. What is the biggest problem for the women in the village now?

The biggest problem for the women in the village right now is water. We need to have clean water which we will use to drink, cook and for any reason. Because water is important. That will help women because most of them are not educated. In our work, we need water. We need more water for our work - especially in the gardens. If we have water in the village, you will see many people can have orchards in the compounds where they will grow bananas or even vegetables, and thet will bring a big change. Water is our first priority in the village.

Note: The pump in Penyem is not working, although Friends of Penyem brought a new pump to the village last year. Several engineers have been investigated the system, and it has been preliminarily determined that the solar panels, which are over 15 years old, are not powerful enough to power the system. Friends of Penyem is talking with local water companies, to find a solution, and, at the same time, is discussing with them the possibility of replacing the entire system, which will also create more capacity for the expanding village. As it stands, the water tank in the village is not large enough to meet the daily water demands of the villagers, and the Chief has implemented a rationing system.

During the May trip, Friends of Penyem volunteers will work on changing an existing building in the village into a library, where students can study and village groups can meet. How do you think this will help the village?

That will help the village because it will make boys and girls to have a chance to visit the library all the time and to study. And will improve their education. And it will give the children a chance to read all the time. And it will give the women a chance to have meetings inside the room where we can discuss many things about our work and the village. I think the library will help the village a lot.

For an article in the Kennedy School newspaper about Nyima and the other women at the conference, seehttp://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/03.01/05-womenchange.html

Nyima Jarju, future BridgeBuilder

Today we have purchased Nyima's plane ticket from The Gambia to the U.S. We are very excited to introduce her to Penyem's supporters here in Boston, and to welcome her to the U.S. Nyima has never left The Gambia (where it is "very warm" right now), so this trip will be a big adventure for her. We are working on gathering warm clothes for her to wear and planning a party to introduce her to Penyem's friends here in Boston. She arrives on Friday, February 23 and will travel with us to Hyannis for the Half Marathon. Sunday she will attend the Bridge Builders Conference at Harvard.

Team Penyem Update

The Team Penyem roster is up to 10 devoted runners, all of whom have been braving extreme temperatures for the race in 4 weeks! (Well, at least a few days of extreme temperatures. We have been lucky with a mild winter in New England so far.)

On Sunday, three runners met on Charles St. in Beacon Hill for Team Penyem's 5th training run -- a 9 mile run around the Charles River in ~25 degree weather. It was a challenge, but we made it through and we are tougher for it!

Team Penyem runners have committed to raise a minimum amount of funds to be used for FOP's 2007-2008 Scholarships, which will be awarded in spring 2007. We are preparing to kick-off the application process right now. Funds will also be used to pay for Nyima's transportation to the U.S. for the Bridge Builders conference. These are very important initiatives for FOP and for the village, and your support is appreciated!

Visa Success!

We found out yesterday from Andrew that Nyima was given a visa by the U.S. embassy in Banjul, The Gambia. Soon we will confirm her travel arrangements, and Nyima will be in the U.S. attending the Bridge Builders conference in a few weeks! We are excited to introduce Nyima to the friends here in Boston who made her trip possible.

www.usembassybanjul.gm

Friends of Penyem for Education and Development, Inc.