International Project
Access to clean and safe water in rural Uganda
Uganda, like many other African countries, faces enormous challenges for both rural and urban Ugandans to access a clean water supply. Most of the population rely on surface water, instead of groundwater, for everyday living and have no way to access groundwater. This isn’t safe or sustainable because surface water is much easier to pollute than groundwater and when surface water is used up, there’s no real way to restore it. The Reece Foundation, are proud to be able to support the drilling of two boreholes in Uganda that have provided rural communities with safe access to groundwater.
Project
The project involved the drilling and construction of two borewells and hand pumps in the Mukono District of Central Uganda.
The first borehole was constructed in Nenyodde village, a semi-urban community located on the outskirts of Nagalama town, where many underprivileged families live. Prior to construction, many people were forced to walk between 2-3 kilometers to collect water from ponds.
The second borehole was constructed in Canaan & Sinai community primary school, located in Buryanti Village. Due to it's remoteness, the school children and the surrounding households were collecting water from swamps and streams as the closest source of clean water was in the next village, approximately 4kms away. The new well was constructed in the school compound where it can be easily accessed by both the school and surrounding community.
Outcomes
As a result of the project;
5,115 residents of 800 households now can conveniently access safe and clean water in their homes.
1,115 school children and teachers can now conveniently access clean water to use while at their schools.
The distance walked to collect water has been reduced to an average of 500 meters for the households impacted by the project.
"The need in Uganda is overwhelming, with close to half of its population lacking access to safe water"
Wendy Tisdell, BridgIT Water Foundation
Impact
As a result of access to clean drinking water, the communities impacted have seen improvements to health, education and micro-economic outcomes.
Some of the communities most vulnerable families can now access safe drinking water which has resulted in a reduction in incidences of diarrhoea and typhoid, especially among children under the age of 12. Washing hands at school as a way to prevent hygiene related illness can now also be practiced regularly.
As a result of the reduction in the distance to collect water, which equates to approximately 2 hours per day, school children now have more time to attend school, leading to improved education outcomes.
Household economies have also improved, because of the average of 2 hours saved every day for women that were previously walking up to 3 kilometers to collect water. This time can now be used for productive work on family farms or businesses, or on care for their families.
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