Donor: The Deerfield Foundation

Pakanyi Village should, one would assume, be well served by resources provided by local government given it’s close proximity to the Sub-county HQ. Some 15km directly north east of Masindi town, Pakanyi village is set back from the main road by a distance of around 1.6km, situated in the rural countryside behind the trading center which carries the same name.

All the facilities which one takes for granted in developed nations are located in that trading centre, which means anyone in the village who contracts a disease or even just suffers a slight illness, needs to travel 1.6km to get to the medical facilities. Even though this is a slight distance as compared to some other villages which BTA has worked in, it is still worth putting into context, in this case for someone with malaria. Imagine the worst headache, aches, fever and nausea you have ever experienced, then imagine trying to walk four laps of an athletics track feeling like that …. in the height of summer. Or if you are lucky imagine doing it seated on the back of a friend’s bike, but on a surface as smooth as cobblestone.

When it comes to the collection of water they have a choice; walk the short distance, roughly 0.5-1km to the traditional source, a stagnant murky pool which acts as a storm drain for all the faecal matter bearing rainwater, or walk to the shallow well, roughly 2 miles away. As far as the community is concerned, there is only one choice, the traditional source. Half an hour spent at the site would demonstrate that the flow of people using the source is high, despite the fact that they know it is not good. Chairman of the Water User Committee, Patrick Karubamega, when asked about the quality of the traditional source;

‘It smells bad and does not taste good.’

He partly demonstrated the importance of the work our Community Development Officers do when he claimed that no-one in the village was ever sick but when asked why, therefore, do they need clean water he stated that;

‘Clean water … well… when you take it you feel somehow comfortable.’

This shows that provision of clean water is only ever an entry point for us into communities. Once we have started working with them, we will continue to be involved long after the pump is installed, ensuring that they are adopting practices which are hygienic and don’t compromise the benefits which clean water provides.

Click Below to View the Pakanyi Slideshow

Well Data

Depth:  20 ft

Water Column:  7 ft

Recharge Rate:  6 ft/hr

The water column is the height of the water within the well or the distance between the water table and the bottom of the well.  The recharge rate is a measurement of how quickly the well refills after water is removed.

Water Quality Data Before and After Busoga Trust Intervention

Fecal Coliforms (E. coli) per 100 ML

Old Source: 44

BTA Well: 1

Percent Change: -98%

E. coli is a fecal bacteria which causes diarrhea, violent stomach cramps, and fever. It can be transmitted through contaminated food or water. US EPA water standardsrequire Ecoli and similar bacteria be completely absent from 95% of the water samples taken from a system.

Turbidity/NTU

Old Source: 100

BTA Well: 0

Percent Change: -100%

Turbidity is a measure of water clarity; it is an indicator of how much solid mass (silt, sand, clay, algae) and potentially disease-causing organisms a water source contains. Turbidity is measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units.  In the United States, the allowable standard is 1 NTU; Uganda strives for a turbidity level of less than 15 NTU.