Nyakatiti Community 2

Project Status

Project Type: Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Uganda WaSH Program

Impact: 225 Served

Project Phase: In Service - Feb 2025

Functionality Status: Functional

Project Features

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The 225 people who live in Nyakatiti Kalwala Community struggle to access sufficient water. The water source people in this community rely on is a stagnant pool of water, which is open to all sorts of contamination located on a farmer's private land.

"The water situation affects my health and the health of my one and a half year [old] child Esther. Last month, we had stomach aches and diarrhea, which lasted for 4 days. We spent a lot of money on treatment," said 42-year-old housewife Agnes Angeya.

"As a farmer, it cost me a lot [of time], missing [my] garden for all the four days. With the poor rains nowadays, I missed planting on time, and all the plants didn't come out well, which will result in low output. The frequent sickness also makes me weak, leading to [a] reduction in energy levels, affecting [my] work and output," concluded Agnes, seen below.

The source is one kilometer (over half a mile) away for most community members, so collecting water is tiring, time-consuming, and physically exhausting. This task becomes even more complicated when people suffer repeated cases of water-related illness that leave them feeling depleted.

"Most times, I miss going to school because of diarrhea and headache. Last term, I did not perform well, and the teachers started giving me as an example [of someone] that misses class, and now my performance is poor," said 13-year-old Patrick R., seen below collecting water.

The pool of water can not provide enough water to sustain the entire community, especially in the dry season. When it is the rainy season, other challenges exist because it is hard to access when the area becomes muddy and slippery.

The installation of the well will hopefully improve everyone's life in the community. It should enable people like Agnes to focus their time and energy on meeting their daily needs and improving their livelihoods. Children like Patrick will be well enough to attend school regularly and build a brighter future.

The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...

At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.

In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.

Water Access for Everyone

This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we're working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!

Training on Health, Hygiene & More

With the community's input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We'll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:

Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
Safe water handling, storage & treatment
Disease prevention and proper handwashing
Income-generation
Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
Operation and maintenance of the water point

A Community-Wide Approach

In Uganda, we require that the community pledges to stop any open defecation practices before we install the water project — meaning that every household must construct and use a latrine. This will help prevent the spread of diseases and start them on a new path toward better hygiene and sanitation alongside their new water source.

To help with this, we assign a Community Development Officer (CDO) to each community, who encourages each household to install a handwashing facility, animal-keeping structures, a garbage pit, and a drying rack for dishes. Each of these homestead components prevent commonly spread diseases in their own way.

We implement something called a Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, which involves setting up multiple meetings during which community members assess their own hygiene and sanitation practices in hopes of creating long-term change. During these sessions, leaders naturally emerge and push the community to recognize current unhealthy behaviors that affect the entire community.

Project Updates

February, 2025: Nyakatiti Community Well Complete!

We are excited to share that your donation contributed to a safe, reliable well at Nyakatiti Community, Uganda. The borehole well is now providing community members with safe water! Additionally, we hosted a training where community members worked together to make a development action plan. As a result, families are working to build new sanitation and hygiene facilities, and habits that will enable a healthier life.

"I now have enough time to attend to my business. I am no longer worried [about] water. When I come from the garden, I can go to sell my produce without spending time looking for clean water. I also no longer spend a lot on medication. Almost every three months, I would spend like 10,000 USH (Ugandan Shillings) taking my grandchildren to the hospital. I now save that money and can pay school fees," shared 57-year-old businesswoman Ruth Aromburach.

Ruth Aromburach at the new well!

Well Construction

We worked with the community to determine the best possible site to drill the new well. We confirmed the site's eligibility by conducting a hydrogeological survey, which proves that there is sufficient groundwater to support the well before drilling begins.

Several households volunteered to host our team of drilling technicians, giving them a place to sleep and food to eat throughout their work. Many community members came to the work site each day to watch the drilling and see the well come to life.

When it came time to build the cement well pad, community members collected fine sand and water to mix the cement. After the cement platform dried, we installed a stainless steel Consallen pump, which is now flowing with clean, safe water!

The well is complete!

"No [more] walking long distances [for] clean water. I will be fetching water once as I come from the garden. I will be getting clean water for cooking and washing white clothes. Children can fetch water [at] any time and clean clothes," Ruth continued.

Community Education

The self-help group associated with the project was set up and began training in advance of selecting this project.

The first training session focused on financial planning. We mobilized the community through a series of meetings that sensitized them on the importance and purpose of saving. This included meetings dedicated to creating a community profile, where participants map the physical environment and stakeholders in their own community. We also ran a participatory vulnerability capacity assessment exercise. In this session, community members mapped out their shared risks and opportunities, including the water point breaking down.

Participants learning. A representative photo from a similar Self-Help Group training in Uganda.

We worked with the community to establish a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) and a water user committee. The VSLA members will all contribute to two different savings accounts: one which can be used to give each other small loans throughout the year, and another that will fund maintenance and repairs at the new well. The group also agreed on a social fund that will provide grants to fellow group members and help them with weddings, funeral expenses or catastrophes such as fire damage. Our teams will provide follow-up training and continuous coaching to support the management of the VSLA.

Participant engagement is key. A representative photo from a similar Self-Help Group training in Uganda.

We conducted training on hygiene and sanitation at the personal, household, community, and environmental levels. In collaboration with the community facilitator and local leaders, we trained households on critical hygiene and sanitation facilities. These include latrines, dish racks, refuse pits, handwashing facilities, and bathing shelters. Our teams monitor these facilities’ construction while helping the community learn how to best use and care for them.

Finally, we led an additional training for local artisans to teach them how to fabricate and sell locally used and accepted sanitation products that allow for more hygienic and accessible latrines.

We will continue to support the community in their sanitation and hygiene progress through monitoring visits. In addition, we will offer follow-up assistance and refresher training to ensure community members follow through in building their new facilities and developing new habits.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

January, 2025: Exciting Progress in Nyakatiti Community!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Agnes and the entire Nyakatiti Community. Construction has begun on the well project, bringing them one step closer to having clean, reliable water.

But that's not all—during construction, we’re also providing vital health training. These sessions equip the community with essential hygiene practices, ensuring that the benefits of clean water extend to lasting health improvements.

We’re so grateful for your role in making this possible. Stay tuned for more updates—soon, we’ll be celebrating the arrival of safe water in the Nyakatiti Community!

Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!