While in Mpigi, Barbara had an adventure to stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and another foot on the southern hemisphere of the world.
Wednesday 2 November Barbara Frost, CEO of WaterAid, visited the districts of Mpigi and Gomba in Central Uganda, about 97 Km from Kampala city, where Busoga Trust (Local NGO partner) has been providing sustainable clean water with adequate sanitation and hygiene education.
Gomba is relatively a new district. Previously it was one of the sub counties making up the greater Mpigi. It is a water stressed district found in the cattle corridor of Uganda (areas where cattle keeping is the main economic activity). According to the District Performance Report (2010/2011), safe water coverage stands at 42.7% while sanitation coverage now stands at 52.5%. These low coverage figures are mainly due to limited funding and lack of exemplary leadership at different levels of local government in the district.
Since 2006, WaterAid has been in partnership with Mpigi District Local Government and Busoga Trust, supporting initiatives that bring hope and ensure the realisation of water and sanitation for all in the greater Mpigi district. The work mainly targets the poor and vulnerable community members who day by day face the challenge of trekking long distances in search of water to meet their household and animal needs.
Sharing with the community in Kisozi parish on how WaterAid supported projects in the community are improving their livelihoods
Barbara Frost, accompanied by Peter Millward, WaterAid Board of Trustees member, Lydia Zigomo, Head of East Africa region, and other WaterAid staff visited a school and a number of community WASH projects in the district to have first-hand information from the people accessing WASH services on how WaterAid support is contributing to the improvement of their lives and their struggle to break the bondage of poverty.
Visiting the school’s WASH Project in Mpigi
A number of households in the community have learnt to use drying racks; such skills ate tough at schools and passed on to the community by the children
Wednesday 2 November Barbara Frost, CEO of WaterAid, visited the districts of Mpigi and Gomba in Central Uganda, about 97 Km from Kampala city, where Busoga Trust (Local NGO partner) has been providing sustainable clean water with adequate sanitation and hygiene education.
Gomba is relatively a new district. Previously it was one of the sub counties making up the greater Mpigi. It is a water stressed district found in the cattle corridor of Uganda (areas where cattle keeping is the main economic activity). According to the District Performance Report (2010/2011), safe water coverage stands at 42.7% while sanitation coverage now stands at 52.5%. These low coverage figures are mainly due to limited funding and lack of exemplary leadership at different levels of local government in the district.
Since 2006, WaterAid has been in partnership with Mpigi District Local Government and Busoga Trust, supporting initiatives that bring hope and ensure the realisation of water and sanitation for all in the greater Mpigi district. The work mainly targets the poor and vulnerable community members who day by day face the challenge of trekking long distances in search of water to meet their household and animal needs.
Sharing with the community in Kisozi parish on how WaterAid supported projects in the community are improving their livelihoods
Barbara Frost, accompanied by Peter Millward, WaterAid Board of Trustees member, Lydia Zigomo, Head of East Africa region, and other WaterAid staff visited a school and a number of community WASH projects in the district to have first-hand information from the people accessing WASH services on how WaterAid support is contributing to the improvement of their lives and their struggle to break the bondage of poverty.
Visiting the school’s WASH Project in Mpigi
A number of households in the community have learnt to use drying racks; such skills ate tough at schools and passed on to the community by the children
Equator Parents is a government aided primary school located just near the Equator (an imaginary line that separates the world into two parts that is the northern and southern hemisphere).
With a current population of 566 pupils, 253 female and 313 male, the school through WaterAid support has acquired a 20,000 litre rain water harvesting tank, four shower rooms and two latrine blocks for girls- one for older girls for menstrual management and the other for younger girls. The pupils of the school no longer have to miss classes, walking more than 2km down the valley in search for water. During the dry season they collect water from a community borehole also constructed with support from WaterAid.
With a current population of 566 pupils, 253 female and 313 male, the school through WaterAid support has acquired a 20,000 litre rain water harvesting tank, four shower rooms and two latrine blocks for girls- one for older girls for menstrual management and the other for younger girls. The pupils of the school no longer have to miss classes, walking more than 2km down the valley in search for water. During the dry season they collect water from a community borehole also constructed with support from WaterAid.
Barbara speaking to Hope the Schools Health Club Leader
Hope Asekenye, 12, in primary six, is the chairperson of the school’s Health Club and leader of the girls’ hygiene initiative says that the support from WaterAid has enabled the schools to have their own toilet blocks to ensure privacy especially for the adolescent girls.
“We have two toilet blocks; one block of six stances is shared by teachers and adolescent girls. The teachers use three stances and the girls use the other three, and then another block is used by girls in lower classes. When we got the new toilets, the old toilet blocks were left for the boys,” Hope says: “Girls in adolescence also have their wash rooms where they wash and hang their pads during menstrual periods.”
The schools Senior Woman teacher, Mary Sseruwo says that ever since the school water and sanitation project was started a lot has changed: “With more latrine blocks and wash rooms for girls, menstrual hygiene management in Equator primary school has been made possible. Adolescent girls are more confident than before, they attend classes more regularly because they are assured of privacy and easy access to water during menstrual periods.”
Barbara and Peter trying out the different hand washing with soap technologies
The project has led to increased awareness on the values of hand washing with soap and general personal hygiene among pupils. The schools health club uses music, dance and drama to pass on WASH messages to all the pupils, teachers and their guardians. In addition, every Monday, a school health parade is conducted to monitor hygiene and ensure smartness among pupils.
Without WaterAid support, all these good things would not be possible. Equator Parents primary school is a brilliant example of how water, sanitation and hygiene can be integrated in education.
Community Water Source
Community borehole in Kankobe village
Barbara Frost visited Kankobe-Senero community water source to learn how the operation and maintenance structure work. To ensure functionality, Kankobe Community borehole has a user’s committee comprising of five people (the vice and treasurer being women) whose responsibility is to ensure that the borehole bylaws are enforced. Two caretakers (a female and male) have been trained to carry out minor repairs and ensure general cleanliness.
Margret Nakubulwa, the treasurer of the user’s committee says that, the village has 120 households; each on a monthly basis contributes 500 Uganda shillings to the operation and maintenance fund. The committee also ensures the enforcement of facility bylaws. The village has been sensitive to the needs and challenges of the different households and the most vulnerable, in particular the elderly, are exempted from payment of user fees.
Barbara Frost visited Kankobe-Senero community water source to learn how the operation and maintenance structure work. To ensure functionality, Kankobe Community borehole has a user’s committee comprising of five people (the vice and treasurer being women) whose responsibility is to ensure that the borehole bylaws are enforced. Two caretakers (a female and male) have been trained to carry out minor repairs and ensure general cleanliness.
Margret Nakubulwa, the treasurer of the user’s committee says that, the village has 120 households; each on a monthly basis contributes 500 Uganda shillings to the operation and maintenance fund. The committee also ensures the enforcement of facility bylaws. The village has been sensitive to the needs and challenges of the different households and the most vulnerable, in particular the elderly, are exempted from payment of user fees.
Community members giving gifts as a token of appreciation for water source
To date, the management of Kankobe-Senero community borehole is going from strength to strength, pumping safe water to all nearby villages, saving the residents from consuming unsafe water from the swamps more than two miles away contributing to the general reduction of water related diseases in the area.
Visit to Lusozi women’s rain water harvesting project
Barbara helping Shamimu Namubiru to collect water from a rain water harvesting jar constructed with WaterAid support.
Barbara Frost had an opportunity to share with members of Lusozi Twekembe Women’s Group – a self-help group of 25 rural women located in Kisozi parish, Gomba district on of the most water stressed areas in central Uganda. They are engaged in activities to improve household income and access to water and sanitation through construction of rain water harvesting jars.
WaterAid, in partnership with Busoga Trust (local implementing NGO), has supported many women in Kisozi parish to acquire skills in the construction of rain water harvesting jars. Before the project, the nearest water source was River Katonga which is a 7km walking distance. For those who could not walk the distance, the main source of water was the ponds and streams shared by animals.
Shamimu Namubiru, the chairperson of the group says: “On our own we have so far constructed 31 rain water harvesting jars, targeting the most vulnerable community members who include the elderly, HIV/AIDS affected and orphan headed household. We also sensitise community members about personal hygiene. As a result almost every household in the parish has a pit latrine increasing sanitation coverage from a mere 20% at baseline in 2010 to over 80% by October 2011.”
In addition, Shamimu collects water from her rain water jar to feed her 80 chickens which on average lay 60 eggs every day, she also uses the chicken droppings as fertilisers in her garden.
Before she acquired this rain water harvesting jar Zawedde Namazzi used to collect water for her household needs from the pond on the right.
Zawedde Namazzi 40, a widow from Kawula village of Kisozi parish is grateful that she no longer has to collect water for her household needs from the pond shared with cattle keepers.
At the end of the day the WaterAid team paid a courtesy visit to Gomba District Local Government leaders who expressed their appreciation to WaterAid. “Thank you so much for supplementing our efforts, this has greatly contributed to the improvement of people’s lives here in Gomba. We know it is our mandate to deliver services to the people who elect us but often times we are curtailed by limited resources,” said Kyabangi Abdul the District Chairperson.
WaterAid, in partnership with Busoga Trust (local implementing NGO), has supported many women in Kisozi parish to acquire skills in the construction of rain water harvesting jars. Before the project, the nearest water source was River Katonga which is a 7km walking distance. For those who could not walk the distance, the main source of water was the ponds and streams shared by animals.
Shamimu Namubiru, the chairperson of the group says: “On our own we have so far constructed 31 rain water harvesting jars, targeting the most vulnerable community members who include the elderly, HIV/AIDS affected and orphan headed household. We also sensitise community members about personal hygiene. As a result almost every household in the parish has a pit latrine increasing sanitation coverage from a mere 20% at baseline in 2010 to over 80% by October 2011.”
In addition, Shamimu collects water from her rain water jar to feed her 80 chickens which on average lay 60 eggs every day, she also uses the chicken droppings as fertilisers in her garden.
Before she acquired this rain water harvesting jar Zawedde Namazzi used to collect water for her household needs from the pond on the right.
Zawedde Namazzi 40, a widow from Kawula village of Kisozi parish is grateful that she no longer has to collect water for her household needs from the pond shared with cattle keepers.
At the end of the day the WaterAid team paid a courtesy visit to Gomba District Local Government leaders who expressed their appreciation to WaterAid. “Thank you so much for supplementing our efforts, this has greatly contributed to the improvement of people’s lives here in Gomba. We know it is our mandate to deliver services to the people who elect us but often times we are curtailed by limited resources,” said Kyabangi Abdul the District Chairperson.
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