A Year Later: A Savings and Sanitation Solution

"Before this water point was rehabilitated, all the rods and pipes were worn out and they had leakages," said 65-year-old farmer Johnson Kyomya. He was elected as the chairperson of the well's water user committee last year and has served as the well's caretaker ever since.

"We would make several pump strokes before water [would] start flowing," Johnson continued.

"Being the only borehole in the village, it had a very big population, which led to several conflicts at the water point as people struggled to collect water. This made others abandon it and opt for a nearby dam about 1.5 kilometers away, which was always contaminated since it's even shared with animals. We wasted a lot of productive time in search for water."

But now that the well has been fixed, and is being monitored to ensure it stays that way, life in Rwenziramire has improved so much.

"After the rehabilitation, [we] no longer spend a lot of money on repairs like before. With the saving culture towards the waterpoint, money is always available for the repairs."

Since we constructed another borehole nearby, the strain on the well and pump from such a high population has reduced.

"Above all, we thank [you] for constructing us an additional borehole, which has helped to reduce the heavy population that was imposed on this water point," Johnson said. "There are no more queues like before, and I can now collect water at any time without any issues. A lot of my time is saved for other productive activities."

With all the positive factors together, life is looking up for Rwenziramire's people.

"The savings group that was formed after the rehabilitation of this water point has helped improve our economic lives," Johnson said.

"People have been able to use the water to speed up their construction process and others are using the water to make bricks for sale, which has boosted their financial status. The sanitation situation within the community has improved and over 90% now have latrines, which has further reduced the cases of diarrheal diseases among our children."

Johnson demonstrates the working pump.