OUR PROJECTS

IMPROVING WATER-BASED HYGIENE IN HOMES AND THE COMMUNITY
KIGEZI RAINWATER HARVESTING PROJECT
WE WELCOME DONORS AND WELL-WISHERS GLOBALLY
IMPLEMENTED BY GLOBAL SOLIDARITY CORPORATION IN COLLABORATION WITH
GSU (GLOBAL SOLIDARITY UGANDA)

KIGEZI WATER HARVESTING PROJECT

“Water is life” is the motto for Uganda National Water and Sewerage Corporation, yet according to the March 2020 Report by Uganda National Bureau of Statistics, only 16.65 % of Uganda`s population of 45 million people had access to safe, potable water. Government has no capacity in the foreseeable future to extend piped water to all homesteads. The best that can be done is to enable residents to harvest rainwater for future use.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Kigezi subregion is the hilliest part of Uganda located 310 miles from the capital, Kampala. Faucet water in people`s homes is still a distant dream. Residents walk up to 10 miles, especially during dry seasons, to find water. School children and women are diverted from schools and farms respectively to get water for domestic use. This adversely impacts both on academic performance and farm yields. Without water, standards of hygiene are appalling and this affects people`s general health. Residents go for days without a shower and their clothes are not washed regularly. Ironically, Kigezi receives sufficient rain during the year but the rainwater is allowed to flow through the valleys into the rivers and lakes where villagers will walk long distances to carry it back home atop steep mountains.

Water harvesting in Kigezi is made difficult by the prohibitive prices of aluminum and PVC water tanks sold in the capital city, 300 miles away. A ready-made tank of about 10.000 liters costs UGX 1.900.000/= and the cost of shipping the tank is about 100% of that price which makes it unaffordable to the average family.

SOLUTION

The solution lies in manufacturing water tanks in the district, closest to the end-users, thereby minimizing transport costs. In this way, many families can afford a water reservoir either individually or as part of a revolving cost-sharing cooperative scheme. Owing to low income among peasant families, it is our proposal that neighboring families form groups so that 4 or 5 families contribute towards the purchase of one tank for Family A in phase 1. Members of that group are free to fetch water from that tank until all families in that group have each received a tank. In phase 2, the families will contribute towards a tank for Family B and so on until Family E has had its turn.

BENEFICIARIES OF THIS PROJECT

1. All low-income families which cannot afford a water tank on their own will acquire one through this cooperative approach.

2. The project will buy materials in bulk at wholesale prices and obtain discounts which will be passed on to beneficiaries in form of lower costs per water tank.

3. Costs of transportation will go down as tanks will be fabricated nearest the end-users unlike today when a bulky tank has to be ferried from 310 miles away. Transporting materials is more cost-effective than carrying complete tanks.

4. Project will create jobs for local youth engaged in fabrication and installation of the tanks. This transfer of technology will impart skills that the youth could sell elsewhere or apply to become self-employed.

5. Women and school children will devote their time and effort to more profitable activities such as schooling and farming as opposed to fetching water. Academic standards and farms harvests will improve (other things being equal).

6. Standards of living will rise and we should see a positive change in general hygiene of people who have access to sufficient water to cook their food and keep themselves clean and neat.

7. Elderly people without children to send for water have been spending their little income to buy water from water merchants. Money saved by such elders will help them to buy other domestic necessities such as burning oil, soap or medication.

SUSTAINABILITY

The project aims to apply donor funds to fabricate water tanks and make them available more cheaply at break-even prices to groups of families. The elimination of high transport costs and profits of middlemen should do the trick. The low prices charged to families by this project will be just sufficient to replenish raw materials, pay for labor and other overheads so that the project can continue to benefit more and more families without any need for further fundraising or donor support.

WORK PLAN - 24 months

PHASE	ACTIVITY	DURATION (MONTHS)
1	Project proposal and fundraising	1 - 3
2	Mobilization and sensitization of residents to sell the idea of water harvesting.	4 - 6
3	Formation and registration of cooperative groups	7
4	Distribution and installation of initial 10 water tanks.	8 - 9
5	Establishment of a water tank fabrication workshop	10
6	Training the youth in fabrication and installation of aluminum water reservoirs.	11 - 12
7	Fabrication of tanks for redistribution to beneficiaries.	13 - 23
8	Evaluation of project`s performance and compiling a Report to donors.	24

HOUR HISTORY

From the Start

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YEARS ON MARKET

THE STEPS

Our Commitment

1

The Beginning

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2

Settling

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3

Production

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4

Today

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