Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Uganda WaSH Program

Impact: 195 Served

Project Phase:  Decommissioned

Project Features


Click icons to learn about each feature.



Community Profile

We arrived in Rwempisi planning to give people water through a hand-dug well. After meeting families and touring the area, we realized that the issue here isn't a lack of water, but a lack of clean water. There is a spring that the community has used for years, and they have asked us to find a way to transform this reliable water source into a clean one.

Rwempisi is home to 195 people from around 39 different families. Most adults here specialize in growing sugarcane which is sold to the local Kinyara Sugar Factory. After spending most of the morning farming, women return home to take care of children as they get out of school. Men also choose to get out of the sun by meeting at the trading center to sell crops, repair bikes, or another of many other income-generating activities. Men remain at the center of town for the greater part of the afternoon into the evening, when they begin to play cards and socialize with friends. All this time, women are at home with the children preparing dinner, cleaning, and getting ready for the next school day.

Until this spring protection is installed, GPS coordinates are a rough estimate.

Water Situation

Water is fetched from a spring next to Rwempisi. Locals have relied on this source for years, wearing down the stone path that leads up to the spring. A board has been lain across the water to act as a bridge, on which women and children will balance on as they bend over to fill water buckets.

The spring is at the bottom of a hill and is visibly dirty. Leaves, garbage, and algae float on the surface. There is no proper drainage, and thus the water is murky most of the time. During the tour, our team member even noted that the water is smelly!

Drinking the spring's water may sate thirst for a time, but often comes with negative consequences. Diarrhea is a normal occurrence that affects all people, especially children.

Sanitation Situation

Less than half of the homes in Rwempisi have their own latrine. As we begin to construct the spring protection system, we will continue to encourage and help each family have their own latrine. Without good facilities, locals are forced to seek the privacy of bushes. The more waste there is on local land, the more likely a portion of this will end up in the spring (especially after rain).

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

Training’s main objectives are the use of latrines and observing proper hygiene practices, since these goals are inherently connected to the provision of clean water. Open defecation, water storage in unclean containers and the absence of hand-washing are all possible contaminants of a household water supply. Each participating village must achieve Open Defecation Free status (defined by one latrine per household), prior to the project installation.

This social program includes the assignment of one Community Development Officer (CDO) to each village. The CDO encourages each household to build an ideal homestead that includes: a latrine, hand-washing facility, a separate structure for animals, rubbish pit and drying rack for dishes.

We also implement the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach with each of our village partners. This aims to improve the sanitation and hygiene practices and behaviors of a village. During these sessions, village leaders naturally emerge and push the community to realize that current practices of individual households – particularly the practice of open defecation– are not only unhealthy, but affect the entire village. CLTS facilitates a process in which community members realize the negative consequences of their current water, sanitation and hygiene behaviors and are inspired to take action. Group interactions are frequent motivators for individual households to: build latrines, use the latrines and demand that other households do the same.

Plans: Spring Protection

Over continued visits to the community, the viability of a hand-dug well diminished. Between sites for old latrines, new latrines, burial grounds, and ground composition, we just couldn't find a good construction site for a well that would yield safe, clean water.

Considering the convenience, reliability, and long history of this spring, the community has decided to unite with us to build a spring protection system for their current source. Once construction is completed, the spring will begin yielding clean drinking water.

Locals have already begun to gather the materials necessary for construction, such as sand and stone. There's a lot of work to be done: They will have to help our team clear the land around the spring, diverge the water, build a catchment area with walls allowing for discharge pipes and steps in and out, and dig drainage. Local families will host our spring protection artisans while they begin the sanitation improvements needed for a successful partnership. We all look forward to making these improvements together!

Project Updates


August, 2024: Project Change in Rwempisi-Zakayo Community

Projects, like water itself, are fluid.

Sometimes, there are unique circumstances that can neither be resolved nor reversed that turn a well-loved water point into one that has failed to meet the expectations of both the community it serves and our own commitment to help provide access to safe and reliable water.

Unfortunately, the well is no longer meeting the water needs of the Rwempisi-Zakayo Community, despite repeated efforts, spent resources, and a lot of patience from the community and our team.

The Water Project, the community members, and local leaders have decided together that decommissioning the well was the best course of action. As a result, we will no longer make monitoring visits here. However, we are actively working with this community to identify a different solution.

We will continue to work toward our promise of providing clean, safe, and reliable water to those who need it most.




December, 2017: A Year Later: Rwempisi-Zakayo Community

A year ago, generous donors helped install a well with Rwempisi-Zakayo Community in Uganda. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners can visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partners, Geoffrey Kusemererwa and Stephen Kwikiriza with you.




Project Photos


Project Type

Springs are water sources that come from deep underground, where the water is filtered through natural layers until it is clean enough to drink. Once the water pushes through the surface of the Earth, however, outside elements like waste and runoff can contaminate the water quickly. We protect spring sources from contamination with a simple waterproof cement structure surrounding layers of clay, stone, and soil. This construction channels the spring’s water through a discharge pipe, making water collection easier, faster, and cleaner. Each spring protection also includes a chlorine dispenser at the waterpoint so community members can be assured that the water they are drinking is entirely safe. Learn more here!


A Year Later: Rwempisi-Zakayo Community

December, 2017

My two-year-old breast-feeding baby boy was always attacked by skin rashes which were a result of contaminated water from the open source. The baby’s skin is now okay after bathing in the spring water, which makes me happy and thankful for the water point.

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Rwempisi-Zakayo Community.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Rwempisi-Zakayo Community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

A year ago, generous donors helped install a well with Rwempisi-Zakayo Community in Uganda. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners can visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partners, Geoffrey Kusemererwa and Stephen Kwikiriza with you.


Rwempisi-Zakayo is located in Masindi District. There used to be 30 households here, but has since grown to over 50 households now that there's a clean water source. People from Rwentale also walk here to use this protected spring, for it has a huge yield and the water is reported to be very clean.

John Mayoku fetching clean water from the spring.

Stephen met with John Mayoku at the spring to talk about what he's witnessed over the past year. He said, "With the protected spring, we are sure that we are drinking clean and safe water. Thank you! The training passed on to the community helped improve the sanitation facilities in our homes. We were trained that every household should have a latrine." He added that one challenge he's faced with managing the spring is that people eat sugarcane around the water point, leaving their debris as they eat. "However, in our water point constitution we agreed that a fine of 5,000 shillings be paired if you are found littering at the water point. This fine is being applied and it is helping improve sanitation around the water point," he shared.

Getrude holding her little baby, and her sister Suzan

20-year-old Getrude Avako came to fetch water with her younger sister Suzan. Stephen asked them the same question. "Diarrhea used to disturb us, but it is not common anymore because of the protected spring," Suzan said. Getrude added that her "two-year-old breast-feeding baby boy was always attacked by skin rashes which were a result of contaminated water from the open source. The baby's skin is now okay after bathing in the spring water, which makes me happy and thankful for the water point."

Stephen left appreciating the fact that this community is working hard to care for their clean water. They've cleared the bushes out from around the spring, and they meet there every second week of the month to clean the area.


The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.


Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Rwempisi-Zakayo Community maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of Rwempisi-Zakayo Community – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.


Contributors

Project Underwriter - Langham Creek High School Interact Club
St Andrews Catholic College
Sarah Turns 40 birthday surprise!
Jen Cassidy's Marathon #5 for Clean Water