Infrastructure for Sustainability
WACENA operates two wells that provide water for the junior school and for the surrounding community. The first well was installed at Busoga Junior School in March of 2015. The need for a second well located nearby, but away from the campus was soon identified to avoid disruption of school activities by local townsfolk fetching water from the very successful new well.
In September of the same year a second well was installed on school land, but positioned a little over 250 yards away from the campus. This second well provides the local community surrounding the school adequate access to fresh water and in a location that doesn’t cause distractions at the junior school.
The WACENA wells were paid for by private donors in the United States via direct deposit into the WACENA Uganda bank account. The WACENA staff hired and paid a local well digger to perform both installations.
These type of wells are commonly referred to as boreholes in the region and in Europe. The well at the school is 56 feet deep and the well for the community is 69 feet deep. WACENA is the funding organization of the Busoga Junior School and land was donated to WACENA specifically for the well installations.
During the rainy season both wells yield up to a combined total of 20,000 liters of water per day. However the wells produce approximately half that volume during the dry season. The school uses water from the well located on campus for cooking food for the students, drinking water, raising chickens and other needs.
The local community uses water produced by the satellite well located 250 yards from the campus for domestic purposes, making bricks, animal husbandry, and as a supplemental water source for their crops. The campus well is about 20 yards from the nearest classrooms and about 60 yards from the WACENA office. The second well is within 50 to 300 yards of most of the community that draw from it.
The school well serves approximately 500 people including supporting the full scope of school operations. The community well, in its farthest outreach serves over 20,000 local villagers and accounts for benefiting over 600 households. The school spends the equivalent of about $100US every two months maintaining the wells – buying new hardware, pipes and treating the water.
The longterm direct benefit to the education of boys and girls equally at Busoga Junior School, including through direct benefit to the local community by installation and maintenance of the WACENA wells has proven an invaluable asset to our mission. WACENA is deeply grateful to our American and European partners who have continued to invest into WACENA infrastructure – a critical aspect in our journey to local sustainability.
