uganda village project

Clean Water

This summer's clean water team consisted of three students from California and a medical student from Massachusetts.  This group of four was based in Iganga town but travelled to many distant villages to conduct hygiene and clean water outreaches.  They were also involved in several other activities such as gathering information about well and borehole technologies. 

A Brief History

Previous volunteers with the Uganda Village Project began investigating the accessibility to clean water in Iganga several summers ago.  Their work resulted in the recognition that access to clean water is greatly lacking in many villages.  This can be attributed to two separate problems.  First, some villages lack access to water, with their closest water sources such as wells and boreholes being over one kilometer away.  Second, the water sources that the villages do have are often contaminated and harbor bacterial organisms that induce diarrhea when ingested.  In the search for solutions to this problem, Uganda Village Project discovered a water chlorination product called WaterGuard, which acts to kill these bacterial organisms.  WaterGuard is a concentrated sodium hypochlorite solution developed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and distributed by Population Services International (PSI), a well-known international non-governmental organization (NGO).  With these key pieces of information, in 2006 we began gathering data about current hygiene practices, specifically those practiced in the villages of Budoma and Bigunho, both in the Bukanga sub-county of Iganga.  We then trained village promoters in the promotion of WaterGuard as a household-based water treatment with the aim to empower the community to ensure safe water consumption in their village. The pre-intervention survey data was to be compared to post-intervention data to determine the success/effectiveness of the hygiene intervention program


Summer 2006

This summer, with the intention of increasing reliable access to water, the Clean Water Project began investigating options for constructing water sources in water-lacking villages in Iganga.  We met with key technical experts from two water development groups, the Buganda Cultural and Developmental Foundation  (BUCADEF) and the Iganga District Water Office to learn about well and borehole technology.  These experts also assisted us in determining villages and specific sites that were appropriate for digging.  We also spoke to hardware suppliers to discuss the costs associated with digging wells and dropping boreholes.

Using the surveys that were taken by the previous volunteers, we compiled the baseline survey data from Budoma and Bigunho to prepare for analysis.  The electronic database that houses the survey responses will make the pre- to post-intervention data easily compared. Meanwhile, we assisted the villages of Budoma and Bigunho in rejuvenating their hygiene promotion intervention project, which was halted earlier in the year.
   
The majority of our time, however, was spent in partnership with a local NGO called the Jinja Diocean Development Coordinating Organization (JIDDECO).  With JIDDECO acting as our translators and our link to the Ugandans, we continued the promotion of WaterGuard and improved hygiene practices.  These outreaches were conducted mainly in villages that JIDDECO was already established and working in.  Other outreaches were conducted in various health centers, schools, and orphanages.


 Conclusion

Uganda Village Project was able to prioritize a list of five potential sites to dig wells at based on how motivated the communities were.  Because the water systems do require maintenance, it is imperative that we make sure that the villagers would be dedicated enough to put the requisite money and effort into its upkeep.  A local well technician assessed the proposed sites and concluded that all sites were suitable for digging shallow wells. The main challenge that we faced was our lack of knowledge and expertise in well technology.  Essentially starting from scratch, we met with well technicians to learn about different water systems.  Now equipped with this knowledge, we will soon be able to start raising funds to construct these wells.

Our team of four volunteers conducted 22 WaterGuard outreaches and presented to a total of approximately 878 villagers.  This was by far the most successful portion of our project.  We found through our discussions with the villagers that most were educated about the ways that water becomes contaminated.  Many villages offered creative solutions to the problem and most villages were very enthusiastic about WaterGuard.  They expressed that they felt 500/= for a bottle of WaterGuard to treat 1,000L of water was reasonably priced.

Implementation and Evaluation of a Household Safe Water System (SWS) and Hygiene Promotion Intervention in the Bukanga sub-County of the Iganga District in southeastern Uganda (2005 - 2006)

Background:

Uganda Village Project conducted diarrhea-prevention activities the in two communities in the Bukanga sub-County of the Iganga District in southeastern Uganda, loosely using the Hygiene Intervention Framework (HIF) created by the Environmental Health Program of the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The HIF conceptually proposes three essential arms to diarrhea prevention: provision/attainment of hardware (e.g., water systems); promotion of improved hygiene behaviors (e.g., ideal handwashing at key times); and community empowerment to plan, manage, and sustain the system.  We did not attempt comprehensive interventions on each arm, but rather identified key, feasible interventions to for two of the arms: improved hygiene behaviors and community empowerment.  For the provision of hardware arm, we worked to set up a distribution network and promote the Safe Water System, which is produced by Population Services International (PSI).  We also used some of the marketing materials and techniques from PSI.   

Our intervention was be evaluated by pre- and post-intervention surveys, as well as post-intervention focus groups and key informant interviews.  We have collaborated with the community to determine a set of indicators of progress that will make up the questions in the surveys, focus groups, and interviews. 

Well construction (2004-2006)

UVP has funded the creation of 5 wells and protected springs for areas that are lacking in clean water sources.  Needy well sites were identified by our Ugandan partners, and UVP has hired the Iganga District Water Office engineers and masons to construct new wells.  These water sources were tested for bacteria, in order to ensure that bacterial levels had declined substantially after these sources were protected from animal access and fecal contamination.  Well construction projects are organized in collaboration with the Iganga District Water Office as well as the Iganga Rotary Club.