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Water and Sanitation

January 20, 2021 / admin / 1,704 Comments

Uganda is one of the least developed countries in the World which is found in the eastern part of Africa. The nation is known in traditional farming system crop production, livestock rearing, fishery, forest and horticulture production system etc. However the nation is characterized by lack alternative income sources, population pressure, low social and economic service and improper utilization of natural resources like land and water. Most population of the districts/communities suffer from water borne and water washed diseases. The extent of acute watery diarrhea epidemic diseases is more serious in communities.

In these  areas, the presence of highly weathered, fractured, jointed and shear zone, dike and covered by big natural tree and bushes which help easy infiltration of rain water into the ground. These structures serve as ground water conduits and increase ground water storage and transmission capacity of the area. In the selected project villages, presence of high discharge spring water and swampy areas are natural phenomenon. In addition to ground water Uganda is also rich in surface springs.

Water is a basic necessity for life. Unfortunately not all water is safe for human consumption. Water from contaminated sources causes numerous diseases and untimely death. The fact that human beings need water and cannot live without it forces them to use it even for drinking purpose from any contaminated source as the result many people suffer or die from water borne disease. The situation is worse rural areas and districts. Also access to water supply and sanitation is a fundamental need and a human right. USSARC assessed that the key factor in improving health and economic productivity is an essential component of any effort to alleviate poverty Access to water and sanitation services and quality communities is very low particularly.

Lack of access to safe and adequate water

  • Five of the top ten common diseases in both districts are those associated with the lack of safe water supply and hygiene/sanitation. Information collected during field surveys in communities from the district government health offices and from the community needs assessment clearly highlights water borne diseases (AWD, Amoeba, Giardiasis, Typhoid, bacillary dysentery etc.), water washed diseases (like scabies, trachoma etc.) and water related diseases (malaria).
  • The existing gender roles showed that water fetching is the responsibility of women and girls. In the focus group discussion, it is revealed that women spent time in long travel and queuing period. They spent on average a total of 3-4 hours for round trip travel including queuing time. This time is spent in fetching water from unprotected water sources. Women and girls fetch water two to three times a day. Since they loss their energy and time for water fetching, women are not doing their house management in time and have insufficient time to perform productive activities and get rest. Similarly, girls are not following their education properly and they drop out and fail. In critical water scarce period, women were forced to stay half of the midnight at the existing water sources.
  • Conflicts also exacerbated at different water sources between men, women, boys and girls. The number of conflicts arises during dry period.

Lack of access to sanitation facilities

  • Most people in the area, especially women, have to wait until it gets dark to go to the toilet often walking long distances to find isolated spots due to long existed culture of the people.
  • Lack of facilities and poor hygiene affect both girls and boys although poor sanitation conditions at schools have a stronger negative impact on girls. All girls should have access to safe, clean, separate and private sanitation facilities in their schools. If there are no latrines and hand washing facilities at schools, many children would rather not attend than use the alternatives. In particular girls who are old enough to menstruate need to have adequate facilities at schools and normally separate from those of boys. If they don’t, they may miss classes that week and find it hard to catch up which makes them more likely to drop out of school

Lack of adequate sanitation and hygiene education

  • Besides the use of unsafe water, the extremely poor sanitation conditions and very low level of hygiene education further exposed the communities to a variety of diseases including malaria, intestinal parasites, AWD, skin infections, eye diseases, and upper respiratory throat infections etc. Those diseases led them to high medical costs, an increased rate of mortality as well as a negative impact on the ability to work due to poor health.

The project will have primary beneficiaries of 89,528 people with access to safe and adequate water, sanitation and hygiene education. Of this figure 6182 are students that will benefit from the constructed water and sanitation facilities in educational schools. This will be achieved through the construction of 307water supply schemes, construction of 10 double block (each with eight seats) and 6 two seats VIPL with hand washing facilities in health posts, 5820 households pit latrines, capacitating of different stakeholders through training and mass health education.  The project assures equality principles by placing the beneficiary communities at the heart of all project activities, promoting the active participation and inclusion of all members and taking into account accessibility, and gender to achieve sustainable and lasting impacts.

The total budget required for the execution of project activities, is$1,616,024the community will contribute in terms of free labor and local material provision. USSARC also will contribute in allocating personnel, vehicle purchase and others logistical supports in-kind. Currently various donors are being involved in supporting USSARC projects in the areas of potable water supply, promotion of hygiene and sanitation.

You too can be part of this campaign by donating towards part of the budgeted amount to achieve the USSARC target for the communities as outlined above.
Predicted number of consumers/beneficiaries
89,528people

Number of water projects Targeted
176 Hand Dug Wells
85 Spring Development works
23 bore holes

Number of Latrines and hand-washing stations
10 double block latrines (18 block with eight seats)
6 two seats ventilated improved pit latrines
5820 household pit latrines

Number of projects at schools
10 double block latrines
6 HDWs
Establish and strengthening 12 schools health clubs.

Number of projects at health institution
8 two seats VIPLs
4 HDW

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USSARC assists communities by helping them with some required needs as part of donation. We strive to create more employment opportunities for the communities, contributing to the needy social organizations is our priority.

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