Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Program: Wells for Uganda

Impact: 350 Served

Project Phase: 
Community Managed
Implementing Partner Monitoring Data Unavailable
Initial Installation: Apr 2014

Project Features


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Community Profile

Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...

Community Details
When the team arrived, 62 families and the Byanamira Church of Uganda were dependent on various forms of surface water and rainwater collection to meet all of their water needs. Because of this and the community’s partial practice of open defecation, families were suffering from diarrhea and severe dehydration among other preventable water related illnesses. There are community health workers serving in the community to help better community health outcomes. There is an NGO, Mayania Memorial Foundation, who is working in the area and along side the community health workers in the community to build capacity of community health workers. The community has access to shared communal facilities, pit latrines and a pit latrine with a slab. Most residents are or Protestant, Catholic or Muslim faith and the local Byanamira Church of Uganda will continue to share the gospel with the unreached in Ekikagate 1 Community, and is better equipped to utilize access to safe drinking water as an entry-point to sharing the good news with community families. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a Water Committee, CBO (Community Based Organization) and Community Health Club who assisted the team with the water project whenever possible, supplied any materials they had available and guarded the team’s equipment. Water Committees are typically comprised of 5 to 7 members who are trained in various aspects of well maintenance and management. A Community Health Club is voluntary groups of 50-100 men, women, and children of all ages who meet on a weekly basis to learn about disease prevention and the management of water and sanitation resources. Behavior change is never an easy process, but through participatory methods such as these, community members are able to think through solutions specific to their needs. The 3 committees combined will help maintain the well and support small well maintenance fees after the team leaves the area.

Hygiene Promotion
A community baseline feed back meetings was held, triggering the community to establish 7 sanitation facilities per household. Two follow-up verifications have been performed with local leaders to assess the progress made towards Open Defecation Free (ODF) declaration. During the hygiene education, and using a Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, the following principle hygiene issues were addressed: Hand washing, how to properly transport and store water, disease transmission and prevention, how to maintain proper care of the pump, as well as signs and symptoms of dehydration and how to make Oral Rehydration Solution. All of these lessons are taught in a participatory method to help community members discover ways to improve their hygiene and sanitation choices, and implement community driven solutions.

Community Member Interview
The team met with 72 year old community member and subsistence farmer, Byorutari, who stated, "Water borne related diseases have been very common among our people due to drinking unsafe water from unprotected sources. We are thankful to God and Living Water for the provision of the borehole. I am confident that the prevalence of diarrheal diseases will greatly reduced."

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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!