The following text was posted on the official Peace Corps website under projects that need contributions from generous donors. The original link is at: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=694-126
As I told friends and family in an email, this is all I want for Christmas! It is my absolute number one priority to complete this project before I finish out my service in June of this year. Every cent will be greatly appreciated, and I will show you the results of this blessing so you can see with your own eyes at the end of it all.
Much love,
Tara L. Smith
WATER FOR ORPHANS
The Kentaja Foundation was created by a man called Father Michel. With the life experience of being an orphan himself, great compassion for children, and faith in God, Father Michel oversees three orphanages in Cameroon that alleviate poverty and misery for abandoned children. For the past fourteen years, the Foundation has struggled with the question: “How can we live in peace when we are hungry for food and knowledge, when we are sick, and without hope of being taken care of or being healed?”
A tiny Cameroonian village without electricity or water is home to 60 orphans, ages 6-12. The orphans walk many miles every day to retrieve water from a river in which people urinate, bathe and wash clothes. This project aims to build a water well that will improve the quality of the children’s lives, and the entire population who also transport water on their heads daily. Coming straight from the ground, the water will be more sanitary, and fewer children will become sick, allowing for more time to study and enjoy their childhoods. The well will generate more income for villagers who will be able to spend more time cultivating their crops. The well will greatly improve the quality of village life.
Father Michel and his Peace Corps counterpart have already started the project by calculating the necessary costs. Community members have offered all that they can – lodging and food for the workers during the installation. Now, your help is needed to ensure the success of this project.
For more information, search our video, ‘Mlle.Tara.Smith Badzuidjong’, on www.youtube.com !
