We have indentified Pandiga Village for our next well drilling project. Located in northwest Uganda, this village lies across Lake Albert from the Democratic Republic of Congo, virtually in the heart of central Africa. There is no deep well in Pandiga to service its 1300 residents. Although a few villagers make a daily trek to the next village with a well, it is 3 miles each way, and the trip back means carrying about 45 pounds of water (a 20 liter plastic container, about 5 gallons). Most villagers however, just scoop water from a shallow hole, muddy cup by muddy cup.
This is a slow tedious process, requiring many dips into the muddy water before a a container is filled. This takes hours. If someone needs more than one container, after the first one is filled, they go to the back of the line. It is only fair, but it also takes half a day to complete the task of merely bringing water into the home.
Pandiga Demographics
PANDIGA VILLAGE lies in the Buliisa policitical district in western Uganda. As with most Ugandan districts, Buliisa District is named after its “main town” Buliisa, location of district headquarters.
Buliisa District Overview
Buliisa District was created in 2006 by the Ugandan Parliament, previously being part of Masindi District . It is primarily rural and most residents are either pastoralists or subsistence agriculturalists.
It is bordered by Amuru District to the north, Masindi District to the east and south, Hoima District to the southwest and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, across Lake Albert, to the west. The ‘main town’ in the district, Buliisa, is located 80 kilometres (50 mi), by road, northwest of Masindi, the largest town in the sub-region. The coordinates of the district are:02 11N, 31 24E.
The 2002 national census estimated the population of the district at 64,823. The annual population growth rate in the district is estimated at 4.0%. It is estimated that the population of Buliisa District in 2010 is approximately 88,700.
BACKGROUND TO THE PANDIGA VILLAGE PROJECT
Geographical Location
Pandiga is a village parish in Buliisa district, Buliisa county, Buliisa sub county and Nyamutete parish.
Demography
The population of men, women and children in Pandiga village is about 1,375 with 255 households according to 2008 census data. There is a general shortage of drinkable water in the area, and there is only one shallow well located in the heart of the village.
When it rains, drainage water in the village runs down to the well. These water sources disappear during very dry seasons. The next village serves the community of Pandiga with bore-hole water, after a walk of 6 kilometers where energetic people or those with means of transport, such as bicycle, get water easily. Traditionally it is left to the children to fetch water, walking long distances and waiting for many hours in congested water points.
Because of the difficulty of getting water from the bore-hole in the next village, people resort to their traditional shallow open wells for water. They drink this water, use it for washing, cooking, bathing, beer brewing and watering their animals. These water sources are therefore, shared by animals and human beings alike.
Project benefit, seen by Owingi Milton, our Ugandan agent on site
The project shall effectively reduce incidence of waterborne diseases and enable the people to have access to clean water leaving children to go to school and to develop as healthy children for nation building.
The project shall serve close to 1,375 people in the community to be used for different purposes in the village, neighbouring institutions and save people and especially children from long distance travelling –moreover on foot – to fetch water especially during the dry season.
The project shall ensure that there is a tap for 100 persons or 10 households and each house will achieve training on water safety methods and water-sources maintenance.
Community Contribution
Pandiga is making deliberate efforts to fight the dependency syndrome. The local leaders help in community mobilization, provide security, officiate at various functions and settle disputes. Community venues like classrooms, Churches, homes and community trees are used for meetings and training.
The community will contribute land and other locally available materials to help build a well and storage tank.
Each household contributes 1,000 Uganda shillings a month for maintenance and repair. There are 255 households and this totals up to UGX 3,059,840 per year which is an equivalent of U.S. $1,366.07 (at 2240 UGX = USD $ 1). This is more than required to sustain the project into the future.
Conclusion
We are very grateful for your interest in supporting us. We hope that by the end of the project the community would have access to clean and safe water and therefore improve on their health. Any assistance will be gratefully appreciated.
Owinji Milton, Project Coordinator, Ozelle Stephen Project Manager, and 257 men, 283 women, and 835 children.