Support access to safe water at Shak Junior School in Uganda

DRILLING AND INSTALLATION OF A BOREHOLE IS NEEDED!

It’s a natural fact that water is the basis/origin of life for all the living creation. Therefore access to safe water is an essential need for human life. At Shak Junior School, water is significantly needed to facilitate a multitude of the school's daily operations including but not limited to preparation of meals for staff and learners, drinking, washing utensils and clothes, indoor and outdoor cleaning and maintaining the general hygiene and sanitation around the school including cleaning of the toilet facilities and hand washing after using toilets by the learners and staff, which is now very critical in the prevention of Covid 19.

Problem Statement

The critical fact of concern is that much as it is a very essential element of life, at Shak Junior School, we currently lack a stable and consistent system for supply of safe and clean water. The school used to access water from one very old borehole in the community which is now dysfunctional. The school now depends entirely on water manually fetched from other water sources, which are quite distant from the school. However some of the sources are unprotected and therefore the water from there is quite unsafe. The other alternative borehole available is quite distant from the school and access to it is restricted due to high demand from the community which puts a lot of pressure on the facility. So during sometimes it becomes structurally impossible to access water as the facility is locked. Consequently the school has to incur high costs on a daily basis to ensure consistent availability of water both for drinking and other purposes. This however poses a very serious risk of lacking water at some moments which compromises the quality of life of our young learners and the general school community.

3.0 Project Objective

3.1 General Objective

To achieve improved access to safe water and proper human waste disposal for sustainable health for the school community and immediate neighborhood.

3.2 Specific Objectives

1. To drill and install a borehole unit at Shak Junior School for sustainable access to clean and safe water by the school community and the immediate neighborhood.

4.0 Project Rationale

The successful implementation of this project will go a long way to enable the school community and the immediate neighborhood to have access to safe water for daily domestic consumption as well as practicing safe human waste management. Consistent access to safe water and proper human waste management helps to improve general sanitation and hygiene and this helps to prevent water borne diseases and those associated with poor hygiene and sanitation hence improved quality of life of the direct and indirect project beneficiaries.

Image clarifications
Picture 1: An old defunct borehole that used to serve the community

Picture 2: A seasonal “Natyaba” water stream which the community uses as alternative water source.

Picture 3: A seasonal “Kattambwa” water stream which is also another alternative for water supply

However these sources are unprotected and sometimes shared with animals like cattle.

Picture 4: A casual labourer contracted to fetch water for the school setting off to collect water.

Picture 5-6: Casual Labourer offloading jerriccans of water at the school.