Donor: Hampton School

Project
1 Shallow Hand-Dug Well (HDW) in Bulendhu Village, Nawandala Sub-County, Iganga District, Uganda in April 2011.

Dialogue
Like many communities in rural Uganda, people living in Bulendhu have, up until now, been without access to safe drinking water. Water Quality Testing conducted by the Busoga Trust showed that the traditional source used by the community has an E.Coli count of around 210/100mls. The national standard demands that a water source has to have an E.Coli count of 50 or less to be declared ‘safe’. Drinking water with high levels of E.Coli correlates to high instances of diarrhoeal infection. Diarrhoea remains the second highest killer of children worldwide and the leading cause of malnutrition in under-5s. Serious dehydration caused by the disease forces the victim to return to drink the same water which made him or her sick in the first place, perpetuating the cycle of infection.

As with all valuable resources, community water sources need to be governed in such a way that ensures that they can be accessed fairly by all members. When holding a first meeting with the community, the Busoga Trust assists them to collectively draw up a series of by-laws that will determine how the source will be used and maintained. A water-user committee is then elected (comprising of six members), who have responsibility for ensuring that these laws are adhered to and maintenance, when required, is properly organised for.

As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established, access to safe drinking water must be coupled with improvements in sanitation if significant gains in rural health are to be realised. It is for this reason that the construction of a well in Bulendhu has been accompanied by a sanitation campaign, in which Busoga Trust staff have sought to improve health education in the village and to provide residents with technical guidance on how to construct pit latrines and hand-washing facilities from locally available materials.

Sustainability is hugely important to the Busoga Trust. We believe there are two key aspects to this. On the technical side of our work, we use Consallen pumps shipped across to Uganda from the UK. Twenty-seven years of experience have taught us are the most durable and reliable hand-pumps available. On the sociological side, we ask the community to participate as much as possible (by providing local materials, labour and accommodation for external technicians) to engender a sense of ‘ownership’. Having contributed so much to the source, it is hoped that the community will have an even greater stake in ensuring that it continues to function for their benefit.

Key Achievements

• 1 Hand-Dug Well (HDW) completed.
• HDW has high yield of water. Recharge rate measures 6 ft / hour.
• 1 Water-User Committee elected and trained to govern the use of the well.
• Households with Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines (VIPs) increased from 0% to 47%.
• Households with some form of pit latrine increased from 67% to 100%.
• 44% of households now have hand-washing facilities with water and soap or ash, up from 0% prior to intervention.
• Households with a complete Safe Water Chain rose from 0% to 32%.

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