Agou Avedje, Togo
Agou Avedje is located in the southern portion of Togo, Africa and has a population of approximately 600. The village has no financial means, or solid plans for community development and are dependent on national government assistance for their development. Government assistance for Agou Avedje was last received in the early 1990s. The local Water Committee has expressed that water quantity is their main concern. Currently, the community has 8 potable wells which are unreliable, contaminated, and dry during their two annual dry seasons. Additionally, there is inadequate sanitation which has led to endemic dysentery and malaria.
The goal of this project is to provide informed alternatives to the people of Agou Avedje for their development as a community. A site assessment trip was conducted in February 2007 to research current and future water needs, water sources, water supply and delivery options, sanitation, and sustainability for any future water or sanitation projects.
Project Update June 2008
After a year of constant two-way communication with Agou Avedze, and eager anticipation, the village embraced the most recent travel team with a highly energetic and very enthusiastic welcome ceremony. The Ecological Sanitation implementation travel team returned in March from another very successful trip. Chris Fahlin, Denver Chapter President was joined by former Togolese resident Farouk Banna (CDM-Raleigh), John Lipsey (CDM-Arlington), and Barika Poole (CDM-Orlando).
Each one of the goals of this first implementation trip was achieved. Some of the accomplishments included constructing two test latrines and one demonstration latrine, 135 ceramic filters were acquired from Ghana and an official Memorandum of Understanding was developed, negotiated and signed between: Denver Chapter of EWB-USA; Peace Corps Volunteer (1.5 years remaining in the village); CADO (local NGO); Chief of Agou Avedze; Community Committees (Festival, Water and Womens Committees).
Barika Poole was present to perform a water project analysis, or site assessment for a possible water supply and storage project which would be lead by the Chicago Professional chapter. The in-country partner, CADO, was given a used digital camera which will be used to take pictures of progress and send back to the EWB-Denver Chapter. Ongoing future activities include completing community-wide home-owned EcoSan latrine and ceramic filter coverage (110 latrines and filters), user education, training, follow-up and rewards, tracking program indicators and user understanding and demonstration.
Thank you to all that made this trip a success! A special thanks goes to the Franklin Family for their generous donation on Christmas Day 2007. Fundraising for future phases is ongoing, and there are many opportunities to contribute to this exciting project, still in the early stages of the planned 5-10 year commitment. If interested in learning about what opportunities exist, contact Chris Fahlin (fahlincj@cdm.com), Village Service Manager for all EWB-USA activities in the community.
Project Documents
