Kinyasano Girls High School
The water and sanitation need at this school reached crisis mode in the 2015 dry season. The borehole pump, which was the only supply that could span the dry season, failed, but was repaired as an emergency measure. Chronic rationing and water shortages in the area mean that despite infrastructure work being undertaken by the local authority, no supply to the school is planned. Consequently WATSAN is planning a new spring protection and short pipeline from above the school to a tapstand in the school compound.
The bulk of this project consists of sanitation improvements direly need at this school, including a new bath-shelter, and new ventilated improved privies for pupils and staff.
Funding for this project has come to WATSAN from Bishops Waltham Rotary Club in the UK, in conjunction with other local clubs. The project is being monitored locally by Rukungiri Rotary Club, and is being worked on in 2020.
Bwanga Hill
Bwanga is a parish locate 35 miles South West of Rukungiri in the sub-county of Nyarushanje. Bwanga Hill consists of a community of 876 people, mainly pupils and staff of a government aided, part-boarding secondary school, and a small kindergarten, both located adjacent to Bwanga church. In common with many schools in Uganda, the present water supply is inadequate and inaccessible, and sanitation facilities are likewise poorly constructed and overloaded.
There is an intermittent piped water supply to the area from a Government gravity-flow scheme, supplemented by a low-yielding spring, which is 1.2 km away from the school, and is used by a big population in the area. At the school, there is only one plastic rainwater harvesting tank of 10 cubic metres plus a small 2 cu. m. tank, which are overwhelmed by the needs of staff and pupils, and quickly empty after rain. A deep borehole is not currently functional. As necessary pupils must collect water from the distant crowded spring, or even from a stream which is shared among animals, cars and human beings approximately 800m away.
Present sanitation facilities at the school are limited to 1 stance to 105 for boys and 1 to 46 for girls. These structures are all unlined in collapsible ground conditions, and in poor condition. There is a new bath shelter for girls, and nothing for the boys, who currently use a urinal shelter.
The proposed project will be an integrated water supply, sanitation, and health and hygiene educational intervention summarised as follows:
- Reconstruction of the low-yield spring
- Construction of three 30 cu. m. rainwater harvesting tanks drawing water from the roofs of the main school hall and the church, two for use by the school with at least one connected to the gravity-flow scheme
- Repair of the faulty borehole supply
- Construction at the school of two five-stance lined pit-latrines for students, with changing room for girls and urinal for boys, and a two-stance latrine for staff and a bath shelter for boys
- Construction of a six-stance lined pit latrine at the church
- A health and hygiene education programme will be undertaken in the school, at the church and in the immediate surrounding community, along with capacity-building and empowerment activities
- Sanitation improvements will be introduced amongst the hill community, including sanitation platforms, hand-washing facilities, dish-drying racks, compost pits and bath shelters
General sustainability work
Following the completion of a six-week study project, priorities for maintenance of schemes completed by WaterAid/WATSAN over the past 25 years have been established.
Concurrently with construction projects, the team is implementing a sustainability workplan, with attention to issues such as organisation and management committees needing refreshing; water sources becoming overgrown; or small repairs needed to tapstands.
A general sensitisation plan has been developed in order to ensure that the local communities give all the necessary attention to the operation, maintenance and administration of their schemes. Continuity of service to over 30,000 people is at stake in the implementation of this plan!
WATSAN Uganda 