The initiative aims to guarantee quality education and provide a sustainable water and electricity supply.
The Ramon Molinas Foundation returns to Senegal. Through developing two projects in the RMF Volunteer Programme and supporting the improvement of the community allotment in Kabar, the Foundation will renew its collaboration with the Kakolum Development Cooperation Association. On this occasion the two organisations will unite to improve the secondary school in the area of Diannah, aiming to guarantee quality education in a learning environment that is inclusive, safe, and adequately equipped.
Located in the region of Kafountine, the Diannah secondary school lost two of its five classrooms due to flooding in the rainy season. The initiative will help to rebuild these facilities with bricks made by a local association comprised of a mixture of plastic, grain, glass, cement, and sand. This decision, which complies with the government’s building regulations, supports the circular economy, reduces construction cost, and increases durability.
Aside from rebuilding the damaged classrooms, the project will improve access to water and sanitation facilities at the school. The school’s well does not function properly due to an error in its location, meaning the students have to travel 700m to collect water. The collaboration between the two organisations will allow for the installation of a working water source, improving hygiene at school.
To reach this objective, the Kakolum Development Cooperation Association will take advantage of the water source in the community garden, which is located on school grounds and was the fruit of a previous project organised by the association. The community allotment, managed by the mothers of the children at the school, has an underground channel through which water is drawn to irrigate the crops. The Kakolum Development Cooperation Association will construct a pumping system that will channel water from the garden to a 3,000-litre water butt that will be installed next to the school, providing the children with access to a water source.
Secondly, the project will also include the construction of additional channels to the garden ponds in order to improve the irrigation system. The community allotment aims to empower women through agriculture, and the initiative provides the technical skills and the tools necessary for a total of 86 women to take part in the project. The participants and their families will have access to the fruit and vegetables grown and will be able to earn a regular and sustainable income through the sale of surplus produce, allowing them to achieve a certain degree of economic independence. In addition, a part of the sale of the produce will be invested in school supplies for students and improvements on the centre.
Lastly, the project includes the installation of four solar panels and two batteries that will provide 80% of the supply required to light the classrooms and for the water pumping system to work correctly. The students, professors, school administrative staff, and the women will work on the community allotment, meaning the initiative will have 558 direct beneficiaries. The Kakolum Development Cooperation Association intends to replicate the initiative in other areas of Kafountine and in neighbouring municipalities.
The Kakolum Development Cooperation Association promotes responsible cooperation in which the project beneficiaries have a principal role in the goals and execution of the project. The main aim of the association is help improve the quality of life of the population of the Senegalese region of Casamance. The organisation focuses its attention on safeguarding, promoting, and defending the rights of women, sustainable agriculture, food security and environmental conservation.
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