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Over the last 20 years, Uganda has made a remarkable recovery from years of upheavel, but there is still widespread poverty, with nearly half the population without easy access to clean drinking water, while one in five Ugandans cannot access some kind of toilet, a major cause of water pollution. George Yap, Programme Director at WaterCan, reports on a project that is bringing water and sanitation to a suburb of Kampala
Kampala, home to more than one million people, is an attractive city that sprawls over seven hills, the tops of which are home to the wealthy and well-connected. The poor live in informal settlements (urban slums) in the flood prone low-lying areas. Because these areas are informal (not planned), the provision of water and sanitation infrastructure is particularly challenging for the local public water utility. High connection costs, and high prices charged by private or third party vendors, make it difficult for poor residents to access clean drinking water.
In 2005, WaterCan began working with a local non-governmental organisation called Community Integrated Development Initiatives (CIDI) to help bring clean water to residents living in Kampala's informal settlements. Lubaga, in Kampala's western region, was identified as a high priority.
With an estimated population of 300,000, Lubaga is one of the city's most densely populated areas. Most residents earn less than a dollar a day and suffer from poor living conditions, poor health, and lack of access to basic social services. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has hit the community hard, orphaning over 20,000 local children.
While about half the households have access to piped water, the municipal water network often experiences low water pressure, impacting supply. As a result, the poorest households commonly fetch water from other sources including unprotected wells and distant springs.
To address the situation, WaterCan and CIDI initiated a water and sanitation project to assist residents living in three of Lubaga's most disadvantaged parishes - Kasubi, Nakulabye, and Nateete. Preliminary sensitisation...