BUVAD (Butakoola Village Association for Development) is a Ugandan registered non-profit organization with the mission to promote human values for the people of Kayunga District (remote central Uganda) so that they may realize their full potential towards development for a sustainable living in the future. Kayunga District has a total population of 358,700 people, 99% of whom dwell in rural areas.
PROBLEM:
An individual requires 1 Liter of water, per person, per day, minimum. To collect water, women and children walk long distances to rivers and streams and use whatever vessel (tank/jug) they can find. This is dangerous for numerous reasons. It is common for women to be raped or children kidnapped while they walk. Most of the existent water sources are located in isolated thick bushy areas located far away from the households and schools. School children have had to miss lessons in search of water. Many children have suffered accidents like being knocked down by speeding passenger carriers (motorcycles commonly known as boda bodas), or injuries because they do not wear shoes like snake bites or slipping and falling into the water and drowning.
The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened issues as the equally distant public water sources have been overwhelmed by individuals in search of clean water for regular hand washing with soap.
Even when the women and children do safely travel to and from the water source with their haul, the water quality is often blatantly unhealthy, characterized by:
- pools of water resulting from former sand mine pits located down valley that get filled by eroding water from uphill
- a bad odor
- discoloration
- existent solid waste substances
- dangling living organisms like maggots, tadpoles and other pests
- water sources shared with animals (cattle and goats), thus including animal droppings or byproducts
SUCCESSFUL HISTORY WITH TGE:
The Giving Exchange successfully funded 10 of these Bottle Brick Water tanks in 2020.
While the water is collected and used as it flows into each tank, it's estimated that each school uses 1,500 liters of water daily. This means that so far 15000 liters of water are being collected and used from the 10 tanks on a daily basis.
This access to water has increased school attendance rates, and improved hygiene during a pandemic.
To reevaluate the project and partnership for 2021, our team has been actively communicating with BUVAD for many weeks, drafting report templates that will help both parties to measure the success of this project for years to come.
BUVAD enthusiastically agreed to TGE's proposal of selling the surplus of water making this an income-generating program. They estimate a monthly revenue of up to $280 USD. They expressed to us the need to cover their administrative costs (staff, office rent and expenses) after their largest supporter had to cut back due to COVID's repercussions. We came to an agreement for them to use up to 50% of the generated income to cover their administrative costs, so they can put aside at least 50% to cycle back into the program, and fund the construction of news tanks in other schools in the months/years to come.
SOLUTION:
The Giving Exchange has pledged $6580 to fund the construction of 10 new Bottle Brick Water Tanks.
Bottle bricks are plastic bottles stuffed full of trash and plastic waste until they are compact as bricks - they are a simple and accessible technology that have been used to build houses, school buildings, and now water tanks. By packing 2-liter plastic bottles with dry inorganic waste material (plastic bags, plastic wrappers, twist ties, etc.) using a wooden stick or spoon, the disposable bottles turn into these Bottle Bricks. The more you stuff, the more plastic you will divert from the landfill or clean up out of the environment, and the stronger your bottle brick will be!
The “bricks” are then used in the sustainable construction of a cylindrical rainwater catchment tank that can hold 10,000 Liters of rainfall. During dry seasons, the school can pay for a water company to deliver water to these tanks, although this is rarely necessary.
This project aims to increase the community's safety and school attendance by eliminating the current water collection method, which is dangerous, time-consuming and provides inadequate, contaminated water.
Not only will the tanks be a plentiful source of clean water for drinking and improved hygiene, but the sales of the excess water will generate an income contributing to BUVAD’s organizational needs and to future similar projects. In this way, this sustainable program will continue to impact an increasing number of beneficiaries in years to come from this initial investment.
Each tank costs $685 USD to build, including all supplies needed. This project will benefit 10 schools with approximately 600 students in each, ultimately impacting more than 6,000 students daily. Please donate today!
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