Dan and Sempa are best friends. Every morning and evening they walk together to collect surface water from a pond. On days they are not in school, they make the 2km walk several time each day. The pond is very far away and up a hill. Its hard work for both, and unfortunately they are both aware that their frequent sickness is due to this dirty water.
Their village, Kakala, is located in Kasawo subcounty, Mukono District. The village has over 150 households with a population of close to 1000 people. The people currently depend in surface water ponds and streams for all their water needs. These water sources are located in swamps, often more than 1KM away from households. If anyone needs some clean water from a borehole, they have to walk 4km to the neighboring village; Namanve, where a Community Funded Well was recently drilled. Because of the dirty water that the community depends on, incidences of water related illnesses are high, especially typhoid in adults and diarrhea in children. Taking the example and experience from the neighboring village, the people of Kakala village also came together and agreed to collect funds to participate in the Community Funded Well Program. They invited us for training and water survey. An appropriate site as located and the community also managed to raise the down payment. Work is set to start. `
Once this beautiful community has their own borehole Dan and Sempa will be able to spend much more time with their families, studying and of course doing what kids should be doing, playing!