Relief as Kabarole residents get clean water
She stresses that the long trek for clean water had resulted in domestic violence in most families.
Kabarole: Residents of Nyakabira village, Nyataboma parish, in Harugongo sub-county, Kabarole district, are excited about receiving a new borehole to enable them to access clean and safe water.
The drilling of the borehole commenced on Friday as a donation from their fellow resident Traxier Komuntale, partnering with her friends from North Calorina through a project known as Wine for Water.
The village with over 250 homesteads lacked safe water sources for decades, forcing residents to share dirty water sources with animals, putting their lives at risk.
The residents also walked for more than 5 kilometers in search of clean and safe water sources.
Traxier Komuntale says that she found the biggest challenge of accessing safe water three years ago after buying land from Nyakabira, where she has been buying each jerrican at 1000/=, and decided to use her international friends to donate a borehole and 100 water filters to her neighbors worth 65 m.
Jackson Muhwezi, a resident, says that the only well in the village is contaminated with dead flogs and snakes, causing constant outbreaks of diseases.
“We share the same water source with our animals, thus making the water contaminated and unsafe for home use, leading us to constantly visit hospitals, which are not well stocked with enough medicines,” Muhwezi sadly states.
Jennipher Kemigisa, a mother of two, stresses that the long trek for clean water had resulted in domestic violence in most families.
“Since we trekked for over 6 kilometers in search of clean water for home use, our husbands had started to lose trust in us, thinking that we were with other men, yet it was because of the line of jerricans at the well, and this had led to breakups in many homes,” Kemigisa says.
Glorious Kemigisa, a ten-year-old girl, narrates that they only looked forward to the rain to get water for drinking.
“I get scared every time I go to fetch water from the well because it kills my brother; he drowns as I look on with no help. I could not drink it again, and my grandmother and I would only wait for rainfall to fetch water for drinking.” Kemigisa sadly narrates
Youthful Robert Muzinduki, 25, who offered a 30 m by 30 m piece of land to the community, was overwhelmed with blessing as hope for accessing clean water knocked on the village.
“I’m blessed that I managed to help my community with free land for borehole construction, which does not only bring water closer but also adds value to my remaining piece of land by increasing its market as it holds safe water for home use,” Muzinduki emphasizes.
Harris Clay from the Wine for Water project added that it’s everyone’s right to access safe and clean water, which reduces the attraction of many diseases like typhoid, cholera, malaria, and coughs, among others.
“As with the water project, we are ready to offer many other villages in the district safe water for drinking, being a necessity for all,” says Clay.
However, Clay requests the government of Uganda for tax exemptions, especially on donations being for lower community beneficiaries.
Access rates to clean and safe water in Kabarole district vary from 7% in Kijura town council to 95% in Bukuuku subcounty. The district has a total number of 1146 domestic water points serving a population of 274667, of which 207 are non-functional and considered abandoned.
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