Kyampisi Subcounty is situated in Mukono District 27 km north of Mukono town which lies at the main road from Mukono to Kayunga district. The Subcounty inhabitants exclusively live on subsistence farming. 95% of the 56 villages making up the Subcounty can be reached only with private cars or motorcycle taxis. Thus the economic situation is especially difficult.
The water supply in many villages making up the Subcounty are ponds downhills in a distance of several kilometers. These water places are accessible only by walking through small paths. The ponds are completely unprotected and hygienically extremely insufficient. From there people carry the water for drinking, cooking and body care in 10 and 20ltrs jerry cans. This takes 2 to 3 hours per day reducing time for learning for students and work time for adults.
The Proposed Projects:
Ssamba Foundation upgrades the water ponds into protected spring wells or constructs new clean water boreholes. The existing water places in many villages are in very poor condition. They are fed by ground water but without a confinement; groundwater mixes with surface flow that is contaminated by excreta from cattle, sheep and chicken that graze in the surrounding. The poor water quality leads to frequent diarrhea diseases that can be life-threatening especially for children.
Access to bucket water is possible only on slippery trunks. This means a risk of injuries and there is a danger of falling into the water with all possible consequences. The water place is also frequented by young children and most of the rural people often cannot swim. These dangers are to be reduced.
By a comprehensive construction of spring wells or boreholes, the time needed to collect water will significantly be reduced. The gained time can be used for learning and work.
The aims of this project are:
- To improve the living conditions in Kyampisi, to avoid rural exodus
- Improvement of the health situation through improvement of water quality and reduction of accident risk.
- Improvement of the conditions for education and gainful work by reducing the time needed to collect water and avoiding the accident risk.
The Benefits of the Project to the Community:
Increasing the quantity of water allows for better hygiene practices. Raising the quality of drinking water reduces the ingestion of pathogens. With less disease, children can eat and absorb more food, thereby improving their nutritional status.
Also, a healthier adult population is a more productive population, and improvements in water and sanitation can improve income and the capacity to acquire food. Other benefits associated with better water delivery include time savings for primary caregivers, which can result in the preparation of more or better food for children.
Improvements in sanitation have been shown consistently to result in better health, as measured by less diarrhea, reductions in parasitic infections, increased child growth, and lower morbidity and mortality. The expected reductions in mortality will be substantial, particularly in areas with low levels of education.
Another potential benefit from increasing the quantity of water is the use of water for income generating (e.g., gardening) activities, both of which could result in the intake of more and better food, improving the family’s diet as well as child growth.
A fourth benefit is a reduction in the time spent obtaining water. Studies suggest that when women have more time for other activities, they spend much of that time in food-related activities, such as preparing food and feeding young children. More time for women can also increase women’s opportunities for generating income.
How To Support the Project:
You can support this project by adopting a spring well or a borehole for a rural community. You can celebrate a holiday, birthday, or “just because” by donating funds or run fundraiser for a clean water source for rural Uganda.
You can build a borehole or spring well in honor of a loved one, memory of a loved one or. Celebrate the special people and events in your life by building a borehole or spring well in Uganda.
To support the Ssamba Foundation, which helps provide future care for all the children and vulnerable women contact directly our office in Uganda or simply Donate Here
