Uganda – WASH for Northern Uganda Phase 3

Ryan’s Well shares a special history with northern Uganda: Ryan’s very first well at Angolo Primary School was completed near the town of Lira.  Over 10 years later, this well continues to provide safe water for hundreds of students attending Angolo.  The well was restored in 2006 after the LRA insurgency had subsided and proper maintenance since that time has kept the water flowing for students at Angolo.

Since that time, Ryan’s Well has supported an array of programs to build wells, latrine, provide health and hygiene training and continue to build the knowledge and capacity of our local partners, including Rural Development Foundation (RDF).  We are continuing to build on this history and past success with RDF in Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects.   Our focus is to provide sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for over 4,000 people through 2012/13.

Activities:

• Construction of 1 new deep well (cost* $18,500 per well)
• Construction of 5 new shallow wells (cost* $6,500 per well)
• Rehabilitation of 1 deep well (cost* $6,100 per well)
• Construction of 4 multi-stance Ventilated Improved Pit – VIP – latrines (cost* $6,100 per latrine)
• Distribution of handwashing stands

*Costs include (in Canadian dollars): water quality monitoring, hygiene education activities, water source committee training, project monitoring, reporting & partner coordination for WASH sustainability, all construction, drilling, materials and labour as required.

Updates:

• September 28, 2012 – Two school latrines and 3 shallow wells have been constructed along with rehabilitation of 1 existing well.  With rains through September, road access to some of the remote sites has been a big challenge and it is not a good time for well drilling.  Water quality monitoring is continuing and 20 members of local water source committees have been trained to manage and maintain the water sources.  Next steps are verify the rest of the well sites yet to be completed!
• April 16, 2012 – As of early March, our agreement with partners RDF has been signed for the first half of the projects in Alito and Aboke Sub-Counties. Activities can now begin!  During a visit to Uganda by Program Manager Julie Truelove in March, discussions with Eddie from RDF and his staff included upgrading latrine designs to include metal doors, which are longer lasting. In the future, latrines will include a washing room for girls (giving female students additional privacy) and enabling the latrine pits to be pumped out, making the design more sustainable for the future. Many community members have expressed that too many people currently use the existing well, resulting in long wait times during peak hours for water collection and maintenance challenges when the wells are used to vigorously. This region has many people using too few water access points – more wells are greatly needed!

Project Sites:

• Obong Ajur Village, Alito Sub-County – shallow well completed to serve 800 people.
• Kulu Otoa Village, Alito Sub-County – shallow well completed to serve 1453 people.
• Kulu Ajoan Village, Aboke Sub-County – shallow well completed to serve 1500 people.
• Aculbanya Primary School, Aboke Sub-County – deep well rehabilitated to provide for 1133 students and teachers.
• Imato Primary School, Aboke Sub-County – 4 stance latrine completed to serve 652 students.
• Abim Primary School, Alito Sub-County – 4 stance latrine completed to serve 1166 students.

To Learn More:

• Interview with Julie Truelove Part 1
• Interview with Julie Truelove Part 2