Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Uganda WaSH Program

Impact: 300 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Feb 2022

Functionality Status:  Water Flowing - Needs Attention

Last Checkup: 03/14/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This area is flat with very fertile soil. There are plenty of sugar cane plantations and fields of beans, maize, and cassava. The most common livelihoods are farming sugarcane and food crops and raising cattle.

The community is located near one of the biggest trading centers within the district, which has enabled them to access better quality services compared to other communities. Although, their biggest challenge remains access to enough clean and safe drinking water.

The borehole is used by over 300 people daily, including community members, children, and staff of the nearby school, and many from the neighboring villages of Kikingura, Kyamaiso, and Kyandangi. It is always overcrowded, leading to frequent breakdowns. The pump has worn-out parts with leaking pipes and rods making it hard to pump the water without several strokes.

When people can not wait in line or access water from the borehole due to breakdowns, the alternative water source is a nearby contaminated watering hole shared with animals near the dam that leads to diarrhea-related illnesses.

Rehabilitating this water point will reduce the frequent breakdowns, the time wasted looking for clean water, and community members settling for an unsafe alternative.

Teddy, a young mother, said, "I always wake up very early in the morning to collect water, but to my disappointment, I find people already at the water point. This disorganizes my daily schedules, and I end up going to the gardens late. I don't do much in the gardens as I have to come back home and prepare lunch for my husband. Lunch is always served late, and sometimes my husband goes back to his business without food. I have also resorted to using the dam water, which is always shared with animals in an attempt to catch up with time."

"I usually collect water in the evenings after school and use it for bathing and washing my uniforms. However, I always find long queues, and the bigger boys struggling to collect water delay me. My mum quarrels with me, and I end up not washing my uniform, or else I wash, and it does not dry. I end up wearing wet uniforms when I go to school the following day," said Joshua, a pupil from Kikingura Primary School.

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

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 the provision of clean water. 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 one 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 consists of 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 the current practices of individual households – 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 toilets, and demand that other families do the same.

Improved Sanitation

The aim is that all households own an improved latrine. Many families do not use a toilet 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 empowered them with the tools they will need.

Project Updates


February, 2022: Kikingura Kidwaro Well Rehabilitation Complete!

A well rehabilitated in Kikingura Kidwaro, 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.

Mbabazi at the new well.

Mbabazi G., 14, said, "My main tasks at home are cooking and washing utensils and clothes. Therefore, access to this waterpoint will help me perform and accomplish all my tasks on time. And [I will] have some time to rest, as compared to before, when I would waste a lot of time collecting water, and I got tired throughout the day."

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.

The community celebrating at the new waterpoint.

The dedication ceremony was attended by members of the water and sanitation committee, community members, and the Chairperson of the village who gave a brief speech thanking everyone for rehabilitating their water point. Community members showed their excitement for their access to clean water by dancing, singing, and clapping hands.

Musinguzi pumps clean water from the new well.

When 25-year-old farmer Musinguzi Wycliff was asked about the water point, he said, "The access to reliable and safe water will help [with] less prevalence of water-related diseases like typhoid and diarrhea among [our] children and themselves. This will also reduce expenses on medication and time wasted at the health centers other than doing productive work in gardens."

Clean water flowing!

Training

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.

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.

Additional training sessions focused on hygiene and sanitation at the personal, household, community, and environmental levels. In collaboration with the community facilitator and local leaders, we trained 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 led 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.

Thank you for making all of this possible!




January, 2022: Kikingura Kidwaro Community Well Rehabilitation Underway!

A severe clean water shortage in the Kikingura Kidwaro 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

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!


A Year Later: "My hygiene has greatly improved"

February, 2023

A year ago, your generous donation helped Kikingura Kidwaro Community in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Geoffrey. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Kikingura Kidwaro 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!

The water point in Kikingura Kidwaro Community was overcrowded and often broke down, leaving people without sufficient water to meet their daily needs. It was in need of rehabilitation.

"Most boreholes in this area were non-functional, and it was very difficult to access drinking water, especially while at school," said 13-year-old Geoffrey T.

We rehabilitated the well last year, and since then, access to consistent water has become easier for community members.

"It's easier for me to access water now because I can reach the borehole at any time. Besides, I can easily support my parents with domestic work at home since I no longer have to use the water sparingly," Geoffrey said.

With sufficient water available anytime he needs it, Geoffrey has been able to make improvements in his life that will hopefully help toward a bright future.

"My hygiene has greatly improved, and I was elected as one of the prefects at school because of being smart," concluded Geoffrey.

Geoffrey pumps water while community members wait their turn.


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 Kikingura Kidwaro 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 Kikingura Kidwaro 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.


Contributors

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