The Ugandan staff team have implemented a series of new low-yield springs in the last quarter, bringing their exemplary best practice to the processes of community and political engagement, as well as efficient engineering and construction. They discovered that one of the springs, at Mukugwe, was in fact high yielding, reminding us of the hope WATSAN’s projects can bring and the abundance of nature’s resources.

WATSAN operates across two districts of South-West Uganda, and the team has implemented spring protection projects in both areas over the past few months.

In Rukungiri district, new low-yield springs at Rweminyinya, Rwembogo and Kyabugashe are now serving three extremely rural villages. For all these projects, the team has engaged strongly with the community before, during and after the construction aspect, getting buy-in to the existence and maintenance of the new schemes; involving the beneficiaries in carrying out work directly on their project; and formally handing over the facilities to a local committee via a formal commissioning ceremony. In the staff team’s report to trustees, they note that “Speaker after speaker at this function thanked the UK Support Group for their financial consideration in helping communities to access safe and clean water through spring construction”.

In Kanungu district, a spring construction was initiated at Mukugwe (pictured), which is now serving 47 households with 233 people in the community. During construction the team discovered that this spring was unexpectedly high-yielding, with four separate water eyes identified and channelled into the spring. They were able to build the structure in such a way that a pipeline extension could be applied to it in future, potentially forming a mini gravity flow scheme. At the commissioning ceremony for this project, the WATSAN team were especially commended by local community leaders for their productive relationships with local government, and for the ecological credentials of the construction. This included using efficient and up-to-date technology; sensitive disposal of waste materials; and encouraging tree planting around the scheme.

Staff report that guest of honour Bishop Dan Zoreka “thanked in a special way the UK Support group for their routine financial support and for sending in money in a timely manner. He informed members that the donors do not always have the money, but save little by little to help us Africans”.

Projects like these are supported by our regular donors, who have standing orders to WATSAN and enable the staff team to identify and implement small-scale projects. Our thanks to go our loyal regular donors.

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