The Heart of Change

The Heart of Change Many countries in Africa have been stricken with the misfortune of not having access to many necessities such as food, clean water, and other basic human needs. Our NGO the Heart of Change has developed a detailed and strategic plan on how to fix the country of Sierra Leone. Our goal is to greatly reduce the amount of sicknesses that the people of Sierra Leone are facing. With our detailed and strategic development plan, we plan on putting all funds received to good use to benefit the needs of the people in Sierra Leone. We believe that removing the waste that is placed in the water streams and then converting that waste into compost which can be used for agriculture will greatly benefit not only one but two issues within Sierra Leone. Derek Troya President Hannah Perry Project Coordinator Maggie Harrah Country Liaison Anthony Puertas Financial Advisor

Introduction
Sierra Leone is located on the Western coast of Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the North and East and Liberia to the South. Sierra Leone is about the size of South Carolina yet has a population of approximately six million. We will be working in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The population of this area estimates to be around 1,377,067 people. The majority of the peoples ethnicity is Mende. The Southern Province is one of the major locations in the country for agriculture. In Sierra Leone, only 11 percent of the population has access to proper toilet facilities, whereas 25 percent have no access at all. Sixty-three percent have ordinary pit latrines. Eightythree percent of Sierra Leones population does not have access to adequate sanitation. Sierra Leone also has a very high prevalence of waterborne diseases; 20,000 children under the age of five die every year from dirty water and hygiene-related illness. As the ninth poorest country in the world Sierra Leone suffers from medical issues, which mostly are water borne illnesses. The same water sources are used for toileting, washing, cooking and drinking. Using these unsafe sources of water causes health problems such as diarrhea, worms and scabies. As you can see on the last page, thirty-seven percent of the population uses surface water for drinking water, therefore if we can make their water cleaner by preventing human waste from contaminating it. Our organization would be trying to make an impact in reducing the occurrences of these diseases. Most of the water borne illnesses are caused by the lack of proper sanitation caused by pollution and human waste. By taking care of human waste the proper way the water will be safer to drink. In addition to sanitation problems, Sierra Leone also faces high youth unemployment rates, corruption and poor living conditions

Our method of development is sustainable development, the organizing principle for human life on a bounded planet. This method works towards a desirable future for human societies. We will be helping the people with their natural environment, to improve human health. By taking care of the human waste, we will be able to reduce this disease and be able to lengthen the lives of the people of Sierra Leone. This will also help the future generation by giving them the resources to improve their country.

Project
Our project will focus on sanitation in Sierra Leone. Our goal is to increase the importance, access and usage of sanitation in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone and to reduce the amount of waterborne illnesses and increase the levels of sanitation in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Our first step is to set up a program for volunteers from the United States. These volunteers will help us during fundraisers and also help raise awareness in the United States, because this problem is not only happening in Sierra Leone, it is going on worldwide. After raising the money we will travel to Sierra Leone and educate communities on sanitation. We will educate them on why sanitation is important and how it will help make their communities a better place to live. After teaching them about sanitation we will instruct them on how to build the facilities, which will include composting toilets. These toilets will be made out of wood, concrete, pipes, gravel and insulation. The facilities will not take a lot of time to build because they do not require plumbing. The toilet will use human waste and transform it into compost for agriculture. After building the facilities we will teach the citizens how to maintain them on their own. We will also instruct them on creating compost. The compost will improve their agriculture and increase the richness of the soil.

We believe after one year, Sierra Leoneans should be able to maintain their sanitation facilities on their own. The toilet facilities we are building are extremely simple to maintain. The only thing they require is to be cleaned. The first month we are there will be used to educate the people on sanitation and building the facilities. The next two or three months we will find the perfect locations for the facilities. When looking for the right location we will take into perspective the amount of use it will receive, how much it will benefit the community, and how poor the sanitation is in that area. After three to four months we can start to build the amenities. It will take about six months to build all 2600 of the facilities. The last couple months we are there is when we can teach the locals how to maintain them and how to use the compost to improve their agriculture. We will track health statistics every three months to determine if it is creating a positive effect on the country. If the amount of waterborne illnesses decreases we will know that the improved sanitation is helping them. Also, if the pH is balanced we will know how well the sanitation facilities are functioning. We will record where the sanitation facilities are located, how that area is being affected and the cleanliness of the water by measuring pH levels. This will be monitored by citizens in the area and we hope to increase the pH level to around seven.

Budget
The total cost of this project is 478,000.00 dollars. This includes everything listed below:

Necessities Tools Gas Transportation in Sierra leone Water Connection Food Cots Permits Medical Transportation to Sierra Leone Toilets 6" galvanized stone pipe Liquid diverter 4" fan 8" block 3/4" galvanized pipe grind Concrete Polystyrene Insulation Compost Bins Living Water Connection Total Cost 1500 Bins 360 Days 2000 gallons 360 Days 1 Year 20 cots

Roundtrip 2600 toilets

Cost $3,000.00 $2,300.00 $12,000.00 $1,200.00 $5,500 $1,000.00 $1,000.00 $5,000.00 $25,000.00 $400,000.00

$15,000.00 $10,000.00 $1,200.00 $482,200.00

Fundraisers
For funding we will use fundraisers, apply for other grants and receive donations. Our group came up with an idea of creating a website to collect money and donations. This fundraiser will help us get the money we need to help support Sierra Leone, by giving them better living conditions and sanitation. We also are going to raise money by selling wristbands at all local stores such as gas stations. The wristbands will not only generate more money it will also help

spread the word about our problem. If we receive the 500 thousand dollar grant we would still have about twenty thousand dollars if anything goes wrong or does not work out as planned.

Conclusion
The Heart of Changes sanitation and agriculture project will greatly improve the well being of the citizens residing in Sierra Leone. With our waste management plan, the trash and human waste in the many water streams that the people drink out of will be removed which will greatly reduce the waterborne illness percentage. With the waterborne illness percentage reduced, life expectancy will also increase since deaths from waterborne illness will be reduced. We also have a plan to not waste all of the waste we get rid of as well. Compost is an ever growing product that many agriculturists use for their crops because compost is a great and healthy alternative for the plants besides your run of the mill manure. To begin with the compost idea we will have bins in which the people place their trash so it can then be made into compost. Our toilets will also have a collection bin in which the citizens of Sierra Leone can deposit their human waste as compost because human waste has been proven to be an extremely useful form of compost. This project will help increase the Human Development Index in several ways. It will mainly increase the Human Development Index in the life expectancy at birth category. It will help in this category because one of the main causes of death in Sierra Leone is diarrhea which is caused by the extremely dirty water that the people are forced to drink since they have no other choice. Data shows that Sierra Leone has the highest under-five mortality in the world, with almost one out of three dying before the reaching the age of five. Reducing this statistic would obviously be extremely beneficial because all of the people deserve to live a long and

fortuitous life. Sierra Leone on the Human Development Index is currently ranked at 180 out of 187 countries. Their average life expectancy is only about 43 years old. It is obviously no secret that they are in dire need of help and with The Heart of Change organizations project, we intend to help the people and help them live a longer more healthy lifestyle with our improved waste management plan.

Appendix A:
This is a diagram of the toilet facility we will be building, that would promote a safe and effective way to control waste material. This will give a place for the waste to go that wont contaminant the water supply. The compost will be used for the local agriculture of the area, and help boost the local economy:

Appendix B:
Population with access to drinking water sources. This shows how most of the population is only accessible to contaminated drinking water. This is one of the main causes for sickness and death.