Safe clean water for 6,000 people in rural Uganda

TRANSFORM AFRICA GLOBALGIVING REPORT 8 – OCTOBER 2017

Safe Clean Water for 3,000 people in Rural Uganda

Miyanzi and Busimbi sub-counties have been experiencing persistent drought for over two years now even school children have to leave their lessons to walk long distances to collect water. This water is not fit for human consumption.

Mothers like Namusisi below have to depend on their children to collect water from dirty ponds far away from home. This makes the children very tired after school and so are unable to focus on their academic work.

In the past, two boreholes were constructed in these sub-counties but these have been insufficient because of the increasing number of the population in the area. Since the last report two more boreholes have been constructed to ease the pressure on the existing boreholes.

We thank you the donors for your numerous contributions which have had life changing impacts on the lives of the needy people of Miyanzi and Busimbi sub-counties.

However, there is still need for more donations to address the pressing challenges of the people of Uganda. We urge our donors to please continue to donate towards this venture. The people of Uganda are still in dire need of more boreholes as more and more people are falling ill because of unsafe water and are exposed to many water-borne diseases.

Testimonies

Testimony 1

A lady by the name of Namusisi sends her children to collect water from the pond after school before the borehole was constructed; they have this to say:

“We always fetched water from this water source. We used it for all the domestic needs at our home including drinking. We walked for a long distance to get here mostly after a long day at school, by the time we got home after collecting enough water for the next day it was usually dark outside. We are happy now that we do not have to walk very far. We fear the dark because it is in the darkness that children get molested. We are happy for the newly constructed borehole as the water is very clean and our mother too can go and fetch water by herself now that the borehole is not far from our home”.

Testimony 2

Namukoza and her friends have been collecting water for their school. They have this to say:

“Each day at school before lunch break we have to collect water for our teachers. We do it in turns but we have to walk long distances. This causes us to be tired for the next lesson as usually the pond is very far from the school.

We are happy now that community members are constructing the borehole which is near our school. We will have more time to concentrate in our studies and be able to play at lunch break without been worried to fetch unsafe water far away”.

Links:

• Transform Africa website

TRANSFORM AFRICA GLOBALGIVING REPORT 7 – JULY 2017

Safe Clean Water for 3,000 people in Rural Uganda

Our Globalgiving project to provide clean and safe water for 3,000 people in rural Uganda has been going on successfully. Thanks to the donations we have received since May 2017, we have constructed an additional two boreholes in Buyobe and Namunggona Villages, in Mityana and Mubende Districts. We would like to thank our donors for their generous donations towards supporting vulnerable communities in these drought stricken areas.

The construction of these two boreholes have brought much relief to communities by providing access to safe clean drinking water. As a result, 400 children women and men in these two villages had experienced improved health and well-being. Before the construction of the boreholes, there were many instances of accidents and even children drowning at the ponds where they use to get water. Community members share the ponds with animals which made the water unsafe for human consumption. The villagers therefore experienced high levels of water-borne diseases like dysentery and cholera. Women and children used to walk over 5 kilometres through unsafe forest roads to get to these ponds.

However, with the construction of the two new boreholes women and children now walk less than a kilometre on average to get clean water. Boys and girls do not need to risk their lives and are now able to arrive early at school. They do not need to wake up very early in the morning which makes them fall asleep in class. In addition, the community members state that there have been fewer and fewer cases of typhoid, cholera and dysentery.

Below are testimonies of two community members, Rose and Henry who have benefitted greatly from the two boreholes in the villages of Buyobe and Namunggona.

Testimonies

Testimony 1

A man by the name of Henry of Namunggona Village has this to say about the borehole:

"Our community members are happy to be one of the recipients of a borehole. Personally my family has benefited a lot. The little children do not have to walk long distances to collect water. It is a safe water source I no longer have to worry about all the dangers that were associated with the previous water source, like drowning, waterborne diseases and even rape. Having a borehole is very good thing for our community”.

The Pond Henry and his children used to collect water from before the Borehole was constructed

Collecting water from the new Borehole

Testimony 2

A lady by the name of Rose had this to say about the borehole in Buyobe Village:

"The construction of the borehole brought our community together; people participated in great numbers. This shows how important this borehole is to us. I helped with the preparation of food for the team.

Because of the new borehole, my children don't have to wake up before dawn anymore to go and collect water and we now have more water at home than before. In the past, we could only afford to collect the bare minimum and spent so much time on just collecting water because of the distance. My seven-year old says now that there is enough water we should rear goats and chicken."

The pond where Rose and her children used to collect water from before the borehole

Rose’s children collecting water after the borehole has been constructed

The above testimonies have shown the significant impact that Manual Boreholes can have on the lives and well-being of rural people living in drought stricken areas. However, more people are still experiencing drought and lack of clean water in many villages and sub-counties.

There is therefore a need for more boreholes to be constructed as more and more people in diverse areas are in need of safe clean water. With these boreholes many more people in the rural areas in Uganda will experience better livelihoods. Donations towards these boreholes are welcome.

Links:

• Transform Africa Website