By Urmila Janardan | Director of Partnerships 2014-2015
In the past year, GlobeMed at UCLA fundraised to cover the cost of repairs/replacements of five different villages water sources, a rain catchment system at Johnson Nkosi Primary School, as well as the development of a WASH manual and curriculum.
Currently, the construction of the rain catchment and two water sources is complete and the other three water sources are under way.
All five village water user committees were mobilised when the four UCLA interns were on the ground in Uganda. Since this summer, the committees have been orientated by Mpoma HIV/AIDS representatives to understand how to properly oversee the upkeep of their villages water source, and promote safer hygiene for all community members. Each village has decided collectively on a small monthly water user fee that each household pays to ensure proper upkeep and thus a sustainable future for their water source. GlobeMed at UCLA will be subsidizing the village savings funds over the next three years by matching how much is raised. Our current goal is to match the contributions of the villages 9:1 in this first year, 3:1 in 2015-2016, and 1:1 in 2016-2017. The fee serves a purpose beyond solely saving for the future as it actively hands villagers ownership of their source without donor dependency. When the time comes for repairs or replacements, villages will have the resources to pay for the services needed. If not, they will be in a much more advantageous position to receive further funding.
Mpoma is assisting the villages in opening savings accounts. They will attend monthly meetings to gauge progress as well as train the water user committees to effectively use the funds and properly oversee the sources.
Using the WASH manual developed last year, Mpoma is currently training villagers in proper sanitation and hygiene practices. GlobeMed at UCLA will be raising funds to provide more copies of the manual and translate it into the native Lugandan.
Once these fundraising goals are met, all other funding will go to identifying and supporting other vulnerable villages in the Nama sub-county region who are in need of a repaired or replaces water source.
This project will help the community progress towards a more prosperous future, so please support GlobeMed at UCLA and Mpoma Community HIV/AIDS Initiative as we aim to put life back into our partner community through the WASH Project!
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