Water, Hygiene & Sanitation
Water and Sanitation Project in Mpigi District
ALFORD is involved in improvement of hygiene and Sanitation in the communities, promoting rainwater harvesting, and water sources construction and promotion of water for livelihood. When all these are implemented, there is always a change of performance in school going children from poor to good, reduction in home violences. Communities are taught to use the running water for productive uses like watering small gardens for vegetables, nursery beds for trees, brick laying (integrated water use) thus helping in lifting up the income base of the poor people in the communities and subsequent reduction of poverty.
Construction of water jars for rainwater harvesting project.
Action Line for Development is carrying this project to increase access to safe drinking water to vulnerable and disadvantaged communities especially among rural old women through construction of water jars.
A water jar is a rainwater-harvesting trough molded by the use of mad, cement, burnt bricks, binding wire, two wheelbarrows of aggregates and one of hardcore.
A water jar can harvest water up to 300 litres depending ones desire. The jar is easy to be constructed on cheap suitable to the less advantaged house holds especially the aged who can not walk long distances to go down vallies carrying jerry cans of water.
Most of the materials used are local and can be locally available at lower cost or at no cost. We normally use mad, sand and the stones all these are local materials.
During construction the work of water jar takes three to four days and is complete and ready to harvest water. Therefore it costs the beneficiary less money and time for other activities.
A water jar is a user friendly and can be operated by any one who has a disability with ease using any container of his choice
It is constructed on a house hold level therefore gives and way for sustain ability of the facility for a longer period of time and also the spirit of ownership of the facility.
Water jars when utilized properly can keep water from season to season thus water available whenever needed.
Unlike Ferro cement tanks, water jars can be constructed on houses with small catchments areas.
A water jar cannot be easily destroyed by people/children as good mixtures of cement and sand is used and the network of binding wires gives strengths to the structure.
Your contribution to help these rural women access safe drinking water is highly valued and appreciated.
HYGIENE AND SANITATION PROJECT
ONE WATER SOURCE
Safe water sources are very few and one serves more than 1,500 people a day. Most of them are malfunctioning. This calls for them to resort to contaminated water sources such as ponds and ditches used by animals and therefore, competing with animals. This exposes them to water born diseases such as bilharzias and dysentery and yet the medical care is too poor and unpredictable due to insecurity. Our plan is to dig at least 50 protected under ground wells and repair some bore holes to save the situation Your contribution in improving the lives of these vulnerable people is highly welcome.
The water which is used for all domestic purposes is contaminated with animal and human wastes. The only thing that is being done to help is to boil it but these people just drink it and as I talk now, several cholera out break have happened in this area and has claimed many people.
The well from which every body struggles to get a last drop of water. ( For sure Water is LIFE).
This is one of the water sources contaminated by animal and human waste and used for human consumption without boiling.
Some of the wells like this one are used by both animals and human beings. These wells are contaminated with animal dung.
FETCHING WATER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. Struggling for the last drop.
Majority of the water sources are contaminated with human and animal wastes as evidenced by the girl urinating near the water source which urine is flowing directly down into the water source where a lady is collecting water for consumption. This water is taken un-boiled with all it’s dirty contents. This is from both man and animals wastes. We are sensitizing people on good hygiene and avoiding dismantling their wastes every where.
WATER SCARCITY A THREAT
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This is shown by long lines of people queuing for water due to few functioning water sources provided by Alford Sanitation project. This wastes a lot of time, makes children and women to walk for long
This looks a small village with poorly built huts but holds over 20,000 people. This over crowding and congestion gives way to easy spread of diseases and high crime rates such as prostitution, drug abuse, child abuse, rape among others to emerge. In addition to water scarcity, many people are congested on one source for water.
Toilets
Toilets are also very important because these people are indiscriminatingly littering their wastes any how and any where because they lack toilet facilities, and to make matters worse, water sources are not spared. This has resulted into communicable diseases which has increased community morbidity and mortality .
Photos of the area and the work being done by Alford.
pictures show the un hygienic water sources, ie swamps, trenches which are contaminated by animal and human wastes, which very water is used for all domestic purposes because currently, there isn’t any safe water source with in the community.
SANITATION FACILITIES
The kind of toilets that are being used in this wounding environment are Open dug holes used as toilets in these IDP camps and bathrooms are a dream. Human waste is littered un discriminatingly including in water sources which they use for domestic consumption and yet taken un boiled. Open places without any hole are used as latrines scaring off people that would have given an upper hand. Due to this problem and yet a crucial factor, we are proposing to dig 60 public pit latrines to rescue the situation. Over 20,000 people both young and old are living in such environment which is hygienically threatening as far as cholera out break and other related infections are concerned. Some of alternative sanitation toilets(Latrines) under construction
These are some of the alternative toilets that are constructed to households and communities.
The Technical drawings showing the sanitation toilet project
