Collective Efforts to Deliver Clean Portable water

In 2018, Lutheran World Federation drilled a borehole in Base camp zone, Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Kamwange district. The borehole serves a total of 175 households and is managed by the refugees. In 2020, the borehole broke down making access to clean water a challenge for many households, forcing them to draw water from a nearby unprotected well that was constructed for cattle.

During the dry season, there was restricted access to the well as the water remained reserved for cattle, making life very difficult for many households who had to either walk a distance of 3km to access water from River Rinbil in Katalyeba village or harvest rain water. However, the rain was unreliable and insufficient to meet the households’ water needs.

Oxfam in Uganda repaired the borehole in July 2021 which improved access to clean water. A water user committee comprised of 5 members, both refugees and nationals, was trained on operation and maintenance of the borehole. Keleme Felesiyeni, the chairperson of the committee said that this is promoting co-peaceful existence between refugees and the host community. Every two months, the committee collects Ushs.1,000 as water user fees from each household that accesses water from the handpump.

The community can now do regular repairs of the borehole whenever it breaks down using the collected fees to purchase spare parts and also pay the handpump mechanic for a routine maintenance check-up. The same fees is used for monthly facilitation of the water user committee for motivation purposes and currently there are funds in the account to address any eventualities regarding the handpump.

The refugees and host communities now have access to clean and safe portable water for domestic use. The walking distance in search for water has reduced by 3km and there is water reliability which has improved on personal hygiene and sanitation in the settlement camp.

Additionally, there is peaceful co-existence between the nationals and refugees because they now have a uniting factor which is the water use committee and sharing the source of water. These are as a result of solving the challenge of access to water in Katalyeba village in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement.

“The most significant change to me and my community is the access to clean and safe portable water and the reduction in walking distance to fetch water. Initially we walked for over 3 kilometers to access water. This was tiresome, time consuming, and risky especially for our wives and children who take on most of the household chores,” said Geoffrey Birungi, one of the members of the water community members.