In Kyankwanzi district, a rural district located 150km away from Kampala, lying in Uganda’s dry Cattle Corridor, accelerated climate changes characterized by unpredictable rainfall patterns resulted in water stress, which affected the population of both crop farmers and cattle keepers. They depended on muddy, algae filled open wells and ponds left behind by sand mining in the area for water. They collected water for domestic consumption from the very sources where cattle drink, compromising sanitation and hygiene in homes and schools resulting in increased occurrence of water borne diseases such as diarrhoea.

Women and children walked over 5 kilometres to collect water from the contaminated ponds. Vulnerable persons like the elderly and physically handicapped found it hard to have access to clean and safe water and proper sanitation. Working with Kyankwanzi District Local Government through The Kyankwanzi Water Project, we constructed 25 boreholes and shallow wells in the district, mobilized, trained and sensitized communities on proper sanitation and hygiene practices, and operation and maintenance of point water sources.