Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Uganda WaSH Program

Impact: 350 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jul 2022

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/15/2023

Project Features


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Community Profile

"In this community, we have three boreholes, and the two are located at the extreme ends of the village about three kilometers away. We always wake up by 6:00 am and ride about two to three kilometers away in search of clean drinking water now that our nearby borehole is broken," said Joseph Agaba.

"This interferes a lot with most of our daily activities, like farming, since most times we go to the gardens very late."

The nearest well to Joseph's home does not work. He and the other 350 people living nearby must take the long trip he described each day to get water. The most common livelihood for people here is subsistence farming, in which households focus on food crops for home consumption and sell any excess at the market. A few people who own big chunks of land have commercialized it by growing sugarcane. The time spent fetching water each day is hindering the ability of all families and farmers here from improving their yields and, consequently, their financial earnings.

"There is a lot of time wastage as one moves to the next water point to collect water. This interferes a lot with most of my income-generating activities, like farming, due to the long distance we have to move to collect water, especially for my domestic animals at home," added Pascal Isingoma, a local farmer.

We also interviewed Daphnie, a young girl we met,  about how the current water situation affects her.

"Due to the long distance I have to walk to collect water, my mother restricts water to only drinking and cooking. We have a nearby open source where we get water for bathing; it's dirty, and sometimes we get rashes," she said.

What We Can Do:

Rehabilitated Well

We are going to restore water to the broken-down borehole. Since this water point is located at the center of the village and easily accessible by the majority of people, unlike the springs which are located at the far ends of the village, when this borehole is restored to its original status, it will provide the community with easy access to clean and safe water. We will remove the old pump, clear out the well, reinstall a new stainless steel pump, and build a new well pad to protect the water.

Training

Training’s main objectives are the use of latrines and observing proper hygiene practices since these goals are inherently connected to clean water provision. Open defecation, water storage in unclean containers, and the absence of handwashing are all possible contaminants of a household water supply. Each participating village must achieve Open Defecation Free status (defined by 1 latrine per household) before the pump installation for a shallow hand-dug well.

This social program includes the assignment of 1 Community Development Officer (CDO) to each village. The CDO encourages each household to build an ideal homestead that includes a latrine, 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 individual households' current practices – particularly the practice of open defecation – are unhealthy and 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.

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 can live a healthy life free of preventable diseases. We endeavor that people will have both access to sustainable, clean water and access to sanitation at the end of our presence in the community. We have now organized families to form digging groups for latrine construction and empower them with the tools they need.

Project Updates


July, 2022: Kyamarolere Community Well Rehabilitation Complete!

A well rehabilitated in Kyamarolere, 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.

People collecting water.

"Access to this water point has relieved me from the long distance I used to move to collect water from other water points. Due to the long distance, we would at times opt for open sources, which caused us several waterborne diseases. Our health is going to improve now that we are drinking safe water," said Samuel A., 14.

Samuel.

Rehabilitated Borehole Well

We worked with the community to determine the best possible site for this rehabilitation. After meetings and visits throughout the community, together we agreed that this borehole was the best option to work on.

Throughout the construction process, several households volunteered to host the drilling technicians, giving them a place to sleep and food to eat throughout their stay.

The work team pulled up the old pump, cleared out the well, reinstalled a new stainless steel pump, and built a new well pad to once again seal off the well water from surface-level contaminants.

We conducted a yield test and checked the water’s quality to ensure the well’s ease of access and safety. With great results, we handed over the rehabilitated well to the community. The well is already providing safe, reliable water for the community’s daily use.

Completed well.

"We used to spend a lot of money on medication as a result of [drinking] water from open sources, and a lot of our time was wasted in search of safe drinking water. I hope to increase my output and make more savings as compared to before," said 33-year-old farmer Henry Kaija.

Henry.

"Now that this water point is complete, I plan to improve on my hygiene and sanitation practices, alongside other projects like poultry and piggery since we now have enough water," concluded Henry.

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!




May, 2022: Kyamarolere Community Well Rehabilitation Underway!

A severe clean water shortage in Kyamarolere 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

Borehole and Hand Pump

Girls and women walk long distances for water when safe water is very often right under their feet! Underground rivers, called aquifers, often contain a constant supply of safe water – but you have to get to it. No matter what machine or piece of equipment is used, all drilling is aiming for a borehole that reaches into an aquifer. If the aquifer has water - and after the well is developed - we are able to pull water to the surface utilizing a hand-pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around 5 gallons of water a minute through a hand-pump.


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