Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Uganda WaSH Program

Impact: 588 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Aug 2022

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/19/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

The area surrounding the village of Isagara is hilly, fertile, and green with vegetation. A swamp borders the town to the southeast and the Kinyara Sugar Works factory and sugar plantation to the northwest. The village has several sugarcane plantations for commercial purposes and food crops like bananas, maize, beans, cassava, groundnuts (peanuts), and sweet potatoes for subsistence purposes.

The community has only one water point, a local spring, serving 588 people with 98 households. Because there is only one water source, the spring is overcrowded, especially in the evening hours. People spend a lot of productive time, one to three hours on average per trip, collecting water.

Since the area is hilly and the water point is located downstream at the far end of the village, community members must walk long distances to access water. When water flows downstream and into the spring, things become more complicated because the water becomes dirty and contaminated during the rainy season. People must continue to drink the water to survive, but they often suffer from illnesses like typhoid.

Once they wait in line and fill their containers, they must make the difficult return trip uphill. When they have the means, the men in the community use motorcycles, or a family will use their bicycle to help ease the burden of hauling the heavy water, but most are not fortunate enough to have that luxury.

Children often bear the responsibility of collecting water for their families, which they find very challenging. It is not uncommon for them to be late for school or miss classes altogether because it is a long, exhausting, difficult task.

Kyamanywa Docus Nyanjura, a 57-year-old widow raising her five grandchildren, commented, "The village has only one functional water point (a spring), and it is very far. The access road is very poor since it is swampy [and] hilly and even whenever it is rainy season it becomes very impassable."

She went on to describe the daily struggle. "There is a lot of suffering in as far as access to clean and safe drinking water is concerned. A lot of productive time is wasted in collecting water. I walk a distance of about 2 kilometers (1.24 miles), spending two to three hours to get water home. This makes me, a widow, sometimes stay without water, especially when it is time for school, since it is mainly my grandchildren who help me collect water most times. We indeed need urgent and great assistance for water in this village."

Here's what we're going to do about it:

New Borehole

This new borehole is an exciting opportunity for this community! We work with the community to determine the best possible sites for this well.

We conducted a hydrogeological survey and the results indicated the water table is an ideal candidate for a borehole well. Due to a borehole well's unique ability to tap into a safe, year-round water column, it will be poised to serve all of the water needs for this community, even through the dry months.

Community members will help collect the needed construction materials such as sand, rocks, and water for mixing cement. They will also provide housing and meals for the work team, in addition to providing local laborers. We will complement their materials by providing an expert team of artisans and drilling professionals, tools, hardware, and the hand-pump. Once finished, water from the well will then be used by community members for drinking, handwashing, cooking, cleaning, and much more.

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 pump installation for this borehole well.

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, a handwashing facility, a separate structure for animals, a rubbish pit and a 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 the 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 them, and demand that other households do the same.

Improved Sanitation

The aim is that all households own an improved latrine. Many households do not use a latrine but use the bush. Due to open defecation, feces are spread all over the village. This leads to waterborne diseases and contamination of groundwater and surface water. Our aim is that the community is able to live a healthy life free of preventable diseases. We endeavor that at the end of our presence in the community, people will have both access to sustainable, clean water and access to sanitation. We have now organized families to form digging groups for latrine construction, and empowered them with tools to use.

Project Updates


August, 2022: Isagara Kiryanjojo Borehole Well Complete!

A new borehole well drilled in Isagara Kiryanjojo Community, Uganda is already providing community members with clean, safe water! Additionally, we hosted a training where community members worked together to make a development action plan for their area. As a result, families are working to build new sanitation and hygiene facilities, tools, and habits that will help improve their living standards and enable a healthier life.

"I am no longer worried about spending much time looking for water," said 14-year-old Martin T. "I used to rush from school because I had to move a long distance to fetch water. Since the water was brought close to us, I can access it anytime."

Martin stands at the well with a jerrycan of water on his head.

He continued: "I am now able to find food at home when I am back from school, and I have also improved on my hygiene because I am able to wash my uniform and clothes whenever they are dirty. I will be able to improve my academic performance because the time I would have spent looking for water is used to read my books."

Martin returning home with water.

"I plan to establish a small garden of beans at our home because I will be able to use this water to spray the beans to kill pests. When the beans grow, I can sell them and get pocket money for school and buy scholastic materials and clothes for myself," concluded Martin.

54-year-old housewife Juliet Ngaziba anticipates the free time she will now receive.

"Since the waterpoint is close to my home, a lot of time will be saved because we used to walk long distances to fetch water," Juliet said.

Juliet collects water.

"It could take me like one hour to and from the old waterpoint. [You] did us great by bringing water close to us. This has allowed us to [do] other domestic work like washing clothes and utensils and cooking food on time. This has improved our health.

"I am planning to establish a backyard garden of vegetables like sour tomatoes, eggplants, and Sukuma wiki (collard greens) at home in order to help my household improve on their balanced diet and boost their health as well."

New Borehole

We worked with the community to determine the best possible site to drill this new well. We confirmed the site's eligibility by conducting a hydrogeological survey, which proves that the water table belowground is at a sustainable level 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 also 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 found 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!

Training

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. This is a representative photo from a similar Self-Help Group training in Uganda.

Next, we scheduled the savings group training date with the community. We planned for a one-day training to form the savings group and discuss the best practices for maintaining and managing it.

We worked with the community to establish a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) and a water user committee. The savings group set up a fund to provide small loans to each other and another fund they will use to pay for any repairs to the well if an issue arises. The group also agreed on a social fund that will provide grants to fellow group members and help them with funeral expenses or catastrophes such as fire damage. Our teams will provide follow-up training to support putting the savings group into practice while also offering continuous coaching in records management.

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

Additional training sessions will happen in the near future focused on hygiene and sanitation at the personal, household, community, and environmental levels. In collaboration with the community facilitator and local leaders, we will train households on critical hygiene and sanitation facilities to build. 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 will lead 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.

Just as with the financial training, 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.

Conclusion

This project required a substantial collaboration between our staff, our in-country teams, and the community members themselves. When an issue arises concerning the well, the group members are equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact their local field officers to assist them.

Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program. We walk with each community, problem-solving together when they face challenges with functionality, seasonality, or water quality. Together, all these components help us strive for enduring access to reliable, clean, and safe water for this community.

With your contribution, one more piece has been added to a large puzzle of water projects. In our target areas, we’re working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. With this in mind, search through our upcoming projects to see which community you can help next!

Thank you for making all of this possible!




June, 2022: Isagara Kiryanjojo Community Borehole Project Underway!

A severe clean water shortage in Isagara Kiryanjojo Community drains people’s time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the introduction and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation, and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with more good news!




Project Photos


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!


A Year Later: Safer while collecting water!

October, 2023

A year ago, your generous donation helped Isagara Kiryanjojo Community in Uganda access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Charity. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Isagara Kiryanjojo 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!

Charity A., 9, recalled what life was like in Isagara Kiryanjojo Community before her community's well was installed last year.

"I used to fetch water from a spring which was far. Water would collect in the water collection area because the drainage would block and the community would not bother clearing it. Jerricans would fall in that dirty water hence contaminating it," said Charity.

But life is much simpler for Charity and the other community members in Isagara Kiryanjojo Community now.

"The waterpoint is near our home, just like 50 m away from our home. This helps us save time and also reduces the much [needed] energy [for] carrying water from far," said Charity.

Having ready access to water from the well has made a difference for Charity allowing her and her parents to feel more comfortable about her safely collecting water.

"When I go to fetch water, my parents no longer worry because I come back early and not in the dark as it was before. This gives me ample time to perform other duties at home," concluded Charity.

Right now, there are others in neighboring communities that desperately need safe water access. Your support will immediately go to work to provide a clean water project - and we can’t wait to introduce you to the next person you’ll 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 Isagara Kiryanjojo 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 Isagara Kiryanjojo 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 Sponsor - Park Valley Church
3 individual donor(s)