When three womens literacy groups were started in a community at Paya Sub-County (near Tororo in Uganda), the community had only one source of water which was a hole dug in the ground. They took us to see how they collect water and the poor quality water taken from this muddy hole (see pictured below). There were no springs or water at ground level.
We were able to send one of our local teams from Busia which is 85km away, who had previously constructed shallow wells. After a reconnaissance and assessment of the area they identified a place to build a shallow well. With funding from Wimslow Wells, the local team was able to construct a shallow well in 20 days (see pictured below). It was completed on 26th January 2020.
A total of 321 children and 75 adults are benefitting from this newly constructed shallow well. It provides clean and safe drinking water which will reduce water borne diseases, such as dysentery, in families. It also aims to protect girls from the risks of sexual abuse attached to searching for and collecting water at night. Moreover, children will be able to attend and concentrate on their school work rather than walking long distances to search for water.
Our partner Isaac told us "the community is happy and appreciative to the funders. Water source is now available and has saved people from walking long distances."
To find out more about how the funds were spent and to view more pictures of this project, please view the PAYA Shallow Well Report (PDF below).
Typically a shallow well costs £2,000, a protected spring costs £200 and a water harvesting tank costs between £300 and £1,000 depending on its volume. We have a queue of these installations waiting for funding. If this is something you are interested and you want to help, click here to donate to Afrinspire's water appeal now.