Rehabilitation Project
The water crisis in the large community of Maiha causes its 850 community members, both young and old, to spend an extensive amount of time collecting water each day. As a result, adults delay important activities like cooking and gardening and work that produces income, and children's educations suffer.
"The waterpoint is far [away] and on a steep slope, making it inaccessible, especially during the rainy season, because of the bad road that is also used by the big vehicles transporting sugarcane," said 49-year-old Steven Abigaba, shown below collecting water at the faraway well.
To reach the well in the neighboring community, people must travel over a busy, steep road through the middle of sugarcane plantations alongside large speeding trucks. Steven voiced his concern about sending children, especially girls, to collect water alone through the sugarcane plantations, because some sugarcane workers drink and use drugs excessively, making attacks a potential risk.
It is easy to see from the photo below that the well is in need of repairs. The pump handle is too short, and the area around the pump is uneven without proper fencing and drainage. When it rains, the water changes color, forcing people to use the muddy water or look for alternative water sources.
Fourteen-year-old Priscilla A., shown below carrying water, explained that her parents are farmers who fetch water once a day in the afternoon when they return from working in their garden. "My parents don't fetch enough water as they are already tired from the garden and have other things to do like cooking food," said Priscilla.
Without sufficient water at home, Priscilla is forced to come home from school early to fetch more water. Understandably, after spending most of her day in school and completing the long trip to collect water, she is exhausted and has little time to do her schoolwork, which negatively affects her academic performance.
With a new well available to the people of Maiha, hopefully community members like Steven and Priscilla will be able to stop wasting time and focus on the things that will improve their daily lives.
Note: Our proposed water point can only serve 300 people per day. We are working with the community to identify other water solutions that will ensure all 850 people in Maiha community have access to safe and reliable drinking water.
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.
