In late September our team in Masindi completed the wells in Kigunya and Kitanyata. This now brings to 5 the number of wells completed since we began operations last spring. We are working in several other communities and hope to complete additional wells yet this year. Kihaguze is the project in which we are furthest along. See the page for that village under “new projects”.

In most villages we complete a well on our first attempt. This was the case in Kitanyata where we completed a 12 foot column and capped the well in late September. Kigunya was a different story where it took four tries and lots of hand holding along the way. Our first column hit bedrock after 25 feet and lacked a sufficient water flow. We hit bedrock again on our second column and began to lose support within the community as the digging efforts interfered with other local priorities. After several site visits to rally support for the effort and an aborted third well, we got it right. Our fourth column was excavated to a depth of 13 feet with the water table at 7 feet and a very good recharge rate of 3 feet every 30 minutes. The hand pump was installed and the well capped on September 27th, two and one half months after our well technicians began work on the project.

Hygiene education and sanitation work are ongoing in both of these villages. Working to improve sanitation and educate community members on hygiene are critical parts of our efforts in Masindi. Our team there is working in the villages, with schools and community groups and hosts a regular radio program to help with these efforts.