Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Uganda WaSH Program

Impact: 145 Served

Project Phase:  Decommissioned

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with The Water Trust. Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Welcome to the Community

This hand-dug well will be installed in Kituumu-Bagambakamu, Uganda. At this stage of the project, GPS coordinates and number served are estimates.

People here normally wake up at six in the morning to start working on their farms. They need an early start to beat the scorching sun, and normally retire from the field around 11am before lunch. After lunch, locals try to find something to do inside. The man we interviewed, Mr. Simon Bihemaiso, works in a bicycle repair shop in the afternoon. After his supper, he stays at home and listens to the radio with his family.

Water Situation

Women and children are those most responsible for fetching water for their families. They have different surface water sources, such as swamps and puddles. Jerrycans are dunked into the water and carried home for cleaning, washing, watering, and most importantly, drinking purposes. Once the water is home, it is separated into different containers by use. Drinking water is covered and kept in the kitchen or common room, and the rest of the water is poured into larger plastic containers.

Since surface water is completely open to contamination, it is not safe for drinking. Family members, especially young children and the elderly, often suffer from water-related diseases. These include dysentery and cholera.

Sanitation Situation

Less than half of homes have their own pit latrine. Most of these don't even have doors for privacy!

There are no hand-washing stations, either.  Simon Bihemaiso knows there is loss of life due to these poor conditions. Even if there was clean water for drinking, personal and environmental hygiene is important to keep that water clean. He told us, "Currently we have very poor health conditions! For example, recently Mr. Ochor Hillary lost his son called 'Innocent Wanichani' because of diarrhea."

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

The main objectives of this program are to get locals to always have and use proper latrines, and to adopt proper hygiene practices. Open defecation, storing water in dirty containers, and no hand-washing are all possible contaminates of water supply at the household level. Providing clean water doesn’t go far when the water doesn’t even stay clean.

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

The training facilitator will implement the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, which encourages local leaders to rise up and push the rest of their community to realize current practices at the individual household level – particularly open defecation – are not only unhealthy, but affect the entire village. Community members will realize the negative consequences of their current water, sanitation and hygiene behaviors, and will be inspired to take action.

Plans: Hand-Dug Well

To prepare for this project, each family must have a latrine. They must dig a pit and build a superstructure. After hygiene and sanitation training, new practices must be adopted. Six to eight local men must volunteer to help excavate the hole for the new well, and the materials needed for construction must be delivered to the site.

If no technical issues, this project will progress at a fast pace, taking only four to six weeks. The well will be lined with bricks and sealing clay. Once the well pad has cured, a Consallen pump will be installed by our mechanics. And once our community engagement team verifies that each family has their own latrine, the pump handle will be attached and the community can begin accessing clean, safe water!

Project Updates


July, 2024: Project Change in Kituumu-Bagambakamu 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 dug-well is no longer meeting the water needs of the Kituumu-Bagambakamu 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: Kituumu-Bagambakamu Community

A year ago, generous donors helped install a well with Kituumu-Bagambakamu 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, Simon Mugume and Geoffrey Kusemererwa, with you.




Project Photos


Project Type

Hand-dug wells have been an important source of water throughout human history! Now, we have so many different types of water sources, but hand-dug wells still have their place. Hand dug wells are not as deep as borehole wells, and work best in areas where there is a ready supply of water just under the surface of the ground, such as next to a mature sand dam. Our artisans dig down through the layers of the ground and then line the hole with bricks, stone, or concrete, which prevent contamination and collapse. Then, back up at surface level, we install a well platform and a hand pump so people can draw up the water easily.


A Year Later: Kituumu-Bagambakamu Community

December, 2017

During training here, committee members were taught the basics of safe water management to ensure that it is clean from the time of fetching to time of consumption. This has helped to reduce waterborne diseases like typhoid that could arise due to contaminating water with dirty jerrycans and pots.

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Kituumu-Bagambakamu 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 Kituumu-Bagambakamu 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, Simon Mugume and Geoffrey Kusemererwa with you.

Kituumu-Bagambakamu Village became Open Defecation Free (ODF) with 100% latrine coverage on September 23, 2016. We walked beside this community as they conducted their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation and took action.

The community members are very grateful for their clean water point, since the nearest clean water source was a well two kilometers away. So with the introduction of this water point, community members save time in terms of accessing safe drinking water. The time saved is used for other economic activities like farming and running businesses in the trading center.

Esen Wafula

We met Esen Wafula at the well to talk about the differences she's seen. "People are happy with the clean water point. This is obvious because neighboring communities like Kapila come to draw drinking water from this well. They echoed that this water tastes fresh and nice.
During training here, committee members were taught the basics of safe water management to ensure that it is clean from the time of fetching to time of consumption. This has helped to reduce waterborne diseases like typhoid that could arise due to contaminating water with dirty jerrycans and pots," she shared.

Community members with the wooden poles they've gathered with which to construct a new fence.

She continued to share that her community is having an issue with anything built out of wood, since there are a lot of termites here. Our field officer instructed people to apply oil to the wood before building anything. Some latrines, drying racks, kitchen shelters and bathing shelters need to be rebuilt using oil, and oil most certainly needs to be used when constructing the new fence around this well.

Fred Anthony Simyu

Fred Anthony Simyu lost both of his parents, and now lives with a guardian who allows him to take care of livestock. We met Fred as he came to fetch water from the well. He told us, "We used to drink water from an open water source which we would share with animals like cows. This led to skin diseases and other waterborne diseases. With the introduction of this water point, we don't see these diseases anymore."

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 Kituumu-Bagambakamu 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 Kituumu-Bagambakamu 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.