By Urmila Janardan | Director of Partnership
In the past year, GlobeMed at UCLA covered 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 used by the Mpoma Community HIV/AIDS Initiative.
Currently, the construction of the rain catchment and three water sources is complete and the other two water sources are under way.
Through community engagement and enthusiasm about the project, five village Water User Committees have been formed. These committees consist of elected community members who oversee maintenance and upkeep of the water source, and are orientated by Mpoma on their duties. These committees are vital to the future of the sources, and their commitment to the WASH project is extremely promising. Each village has voluntarily started a Village Savings Fund to cover future maintenance costs, and villagers collectively decided to contribute 500 shillings per month per household. In this way, long-term functionality of the water source and the independence of villages from donors is insured. The communities will retain full ownership and thus responsibility for their sources, making this a sustainable, reliable solution to their previously limited water access.
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. After this point, the villages will be fully independent and have the proper resources to easily cover maintenance, repairs and replacements. If not, they will be in a much more advantageous position to receive further assistance.
Mpoma is assisting the villages in opening savings accounts, and will attend monthly meetings to gauge progress. They will be a consistent support system to the villages, offering advice and guidance in respect to upkeeping water sources, using the village funds, and educating on sanitation/hygiene.
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, add illustrations and diagrams, and translate it into the native Lugandan.
The Water User Committees, Local Leaders, and Mpoma Parish Chief all convened at Johnson Nkosi Primary School on November 4, 2014 to communicate the successes and needs for improvement for the WASH project. Peter, the Program Director at Mpoma, cited that everyone was extremely proactive and genuinely interested in finding the best way possible to move forward.
Consider investing in our chapter - you would be investing in countless lives and ultimately empowering communities to secure their own health without aid. All funding beyond what has been explicitly allocated will go to identifying and supporting other vulnerable villages in the Nama sub-county region who are in need of a repaired or replaced water source.
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