Piwa Maleng: Bringing clean water to communities in Northern Uganda

Tito Titus’ passion and dedication led to him being elected secretary of the Lamogi Sub-County Hand Pump Mechanics Association. He doubles as secretary for the Amuru District Hand Pump Mechanics Association.

Image of Tito Titus Okello at work © Amref Health Africa / Ikochila Associates

The importance of ownership

The project also sought to increase knowledge of, and access to, sanitation facilities at both household and community level, through radio talk shows, community dialogues, health drives, and door-to-door visits by Village Health Team (VHT) members and Environmental Health Staff. In total, more than 27,000 people in Lamogi were reached with information on sanitation and hygiene best practices.

54 Water User Committees (WUCs) – a total of 537 people – were trained to promote hygiene and sanitation best practice among their communities. WUCs are comprised of men, women, and young people, all volunteers, who are elected by the community to manage ongoing financing for water sources. They have a crucial role to play in creating an enabling environment and ensuring the sustainability of changes brought about by a project like Piwa Maleng. Each WUC collects a monthly water user fee from households using the water source for which they are responsible. The money is saved in a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) account and used to pay for mechanics and equipment to repair boreholes when they break down.

Adapting to COVID-19

Amuru District lies on a transit route for truck drivers travelling to South Sudan. Its proximity to a busy border crossing meant it was hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. By August 2020, Amuru had contributed toward 45% of national cases.

While other projects running in Amuru were placed on hold in March 2020, national and district authorities agreed to let Piwa Maleng continue, recognising that improved water, sanitation and hygiene could help reduce COVID-19 infection in the district. Amref was able to adapt and complete planned interventions to achieve our goals by the end of the project, as well as integrating COVID-19 infection prevention and control messaging into community-level activities.

Key successes

(Based on a baseline evaluation conducted in July 2020, and an end-line evaluation conducted in July 2021):

• The number of people in Lamogi with access to safe and convenient water sources increased from 32.2% to 98%.
• 12 out of 15 targeted villages were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). The other three villages require more time for new attitudes and practices to take root and lead to sustainable change.
• The proportion of households walking less than 500 metres to collect water increased from 40% to 55%.
• Waiting times at boreholes were significantly reduced: the end-line evaluation conducted in July 2021 showed that 100% of households had to queue for less than 30 minutes, compared with 52% one year earlier.
• Approximately 98% of people surveyed (a representative sample) now collect drinking water from boreholes and the remaining 2% from taps. Before the project began, 54% accessed water from unprotected water sources (i.e. dug wells and springs).
• Across the sub-county, there was a 3% reduction in WASH-related illnesses, from 26% to 23%, contributing to the over-arching goal of improving the health of people living in Lamogi.

The Piwa Maleng project was so successful that it has been renewed for a second phase. Piwa Maleng II, which launched in September 2021 and is funded by the same anonymous foundation as its predecessor, builds upon the successes and lessons of the first phase. The five-year programme aims to bring water even closer to people’s homes by setting up solar-powered systems to direct water from boreholes to taps in schools and villages. It will combine WASH interventions with training on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to enable girls and women to access water safely and make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.