Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Uganda WaSH Program

Impact: 200 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Sep 2018

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/15/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

The well in this part of Pakanyi Community does not work. Since it broke down people travel a long distance in search of clean water. Some people could not afford to move the long distances and could end up consuming contaminated water from the open water source.

There are other water points, but this village of more than 1,000 people with two schools is struggling to supply enough safe water to everyone. At best, a single water point serves up to 350 people. There are frequent cases of waterborne illnesses among the community as a result.

Fewer than half of homes do not have latrines. This being a town center, many people are aware of the sanitation aspects and the importance of good sanitation. However, most of them are just stubborn and do not want to comply in as far as improving their household sanitation is concerned.

It should be noted however that there is a considerable number of families appreciating the importance of hygiene and sanitation as reflected by their efforts to have the basics. Though there is a fraction of those still struggling to have total household sanitation coverage.

Most people here are small-scale farmers. In the dry season, people prepare their fields to plant in advance of the rains. They go to gardens and return around midday when the sun is hot.

The women then prepare lunch for themselves and children who come back home from school to eat. Thereafter the men tend to go to town for social activities and the women remain home for household chores until 5pm when the children are let out of school for the day.

During planting season both parents return to the garden in the afternoons to weed and take care of their crops.

There are also others who deal in small businesses like shops, bars, and roadside vending since the area is on the main road to Kiryandongo.

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

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 a shallow hand-dug 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, hand-washing facility, a separate structure for animals, rubbish pit and 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 the latrines and demand that other households do the same.

Rehabilitated Well

Part of the well's lining will be taken apart and rebuilt. Artisans will build a well pad to protect the water from contamination. Mechanics will arrive to install a Consallen pump once the well pad has dried.

Note: The GPS coordinates for this project are not exact. We will have a precise location as soon as the water point construction is finished!

We are also building a new well for the community so that more people can access safe water! Learn more here.

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.


This project is a part of our shared program with The Water Trust. Our team is pleased to provide the reports for this project (edited for clarity) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Uganda.

Project Updates


October, 2018: Pakanyi Gwoki Community Project Complete

Water is flowing again from a well in Pakanyi Gwoki, Uganda. People are thrilled about this development that has further unified the community. They also attended hygiene and sanitation training, and a self-help group has been strengthened to better take care of their well.

Well Rehabilitation

It took about a month of work to clean out this deep hand-dug well in Pakanyi. Two artisans worked both from inside the well and ground level to restore clean water here.

The bottom of the well needed to be cleaned out, and the sides of the well needed to be relined. One artisan worked from the bottom of the well, filling a bucket with silt that the other would pull up with a rope. Once the bottom was cleared, some casing was built and installed to better protect this well from all contamination. The final depth is 8.5 meters.

Community members helped gather sand to mix cement, and our artisans used it to build a new well pad to cover the 1.2-meter opening. This well pad protects the well water from any contamination that would come from above ground.

Once dry, mechanics arrived to install the stainless steel Consallen pump. Now, water is flowing!

Training

There were two types of training as construction went on. First, the community gathered together to assess their own living standards and analyze the problems that most commonly affect their families. Knowing their issues, we worked with people to develop an action plan for their community.

They committed themselves to solutions and set dates when every household should have all sanitation facilities like latrines and handwashing stations, a proper kitchen, rubbish pits, drying rack, and animal pens.

It was a hot discussion as some people wanted to be given six months to have an ideal home while others were requesting for two to three months. By the end, people realized that they have all they need to create ideal homes in two to three months' time.

The second type of training was in financial management. In essence, the community established their own banking system, an opportunity that had been previously inaccessible to them in such a rural area. They elected a chairperson, record keeper, box keeper, and money counters. The community then meets on a weekly basis to discuss their community savings and loans. The first portion of all savings is set aside for maintenance of the water point.

A Water and Sanitation Committee was trained on simple maintenance and operation of the water point as well as their roles and responsibilities.

"Our biggest challenge was getting money for the maintenance of our water point when it would break down. It could take us three to four weeks collecting the money for repairing. In the meantime, we were fetching water from the open source. But now this saving group is going to help us to address that challenge since money for maintenance of the water point will always be available. When the water point breaks down we will get money from the box and repair our water point," shared Mrs. Morrine Katusiime.

"No more going back to open water sources!"




July, 2018: Pakanyi Gwoki Community Project Underway

A severe clean water shortage in Pakanyi Gwoki 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

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.


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