A Year Later: Rubona Kyagaitani Community

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to dig a well for Rubona Kyagaitani Community in Uganda. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – and we’re excited to share this one from local team member Olive Kamusiime with you.

Rubona is a large community consisting of more than 200 households that did not have a functional water point before this project. People used to travel more than 2 miles to an open water source which they shared with wild animals. The long distance traveled just to drink unsafe water was a burden on community members.

It looked like this:

Now that they have a water point, such problems are in the past. The water is much closer to the people, much safer, and they don’t have to move long distance to get water.

The community is very hopeful and full of promise. They do weekly clean-ups of their water point and do quarterly servicing of the water point which helps ensure that the water point always works.

This is the community water source now:

Construction of the well is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project is committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by donors like you, allows us to maintain our relationships with communities by visiting up to 4 times each year to ensure that the water points are safe and reliable.

This is just one of the many ways that we monitor projects and communicate with you. Additionally, you can always check the functionality status and our project map to see how all of our water points are performing, based on our consistent monitoring data.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This project in Rubona Kyagaitani Community is changing many lives.

Vincent Bagota is 14 years old and attends nearby Bulima Primary School. We met him during a recent visit to the well. Vincent used to walk a long distance after school to Kisoga Village each day to get water.

"I used to come back home late when it was dark," he said.

He no longer has to make that long journey since the water point is near his home.

This is only possible because of the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, our local teams, the community, and you. We are excited to stay in touch with this community and support their journey with safe water.

Read more about The Water Promise and how you can help.