When students miss classes to find water

Children line up to fetch water in Kisoro District recently. Most districts in western Uganda are facing a water crisis as a result of the prolonged drought. PHOTO BY ROBERT MUHEREZA

Mbarara

For many schools in rural areas, getting clean water can be a hustle. For the lucky few, the only source of water is a dam or a well. During the dry season, the situation becomes harder as some of the water sources get dry.

At Bright Ideas Primary School in Kiruhura Town Council, Kiruhura District, students and pupils have to juggle school activities and fetching water after an acute water shortage hit the district following a dry spell that has gone on for about two months.

Classes start late while time for games has been scrapped because pupils and teachers have to fetch water from sources, far away from the school.

“The nearby dam has dried up. Together with the pupils, we fetch water from wherever we can get it,” says Mr Bright Sheith Besigye, the school proprietor. “The games time is not fun anymore because pupils use that time to find water,” he adds.

The school which has 240 pupils, uses about 250,000 litres of water every term. The main source of water for the school is a dam which is currently dry due to insufficient rains.
Although Kiruhura Town Council authorities plan to bring tap water, the project has not progressed since December last year when it was unveiled.

This is the situation faced by residents of most districts in western Uganda during the dry spell that starts around May and runs up to August every year. July is the peak of this period.

From rural communities in Ibanda, Kisoro and Kiruhura districts to urban dwellers in Mbarara District , water is very scarce. Some children nolonger attend school regularly as they have to keep at home to help their parents in searching for water a distance far away, probably three kilometres or more at the only valley dam that still has water and serving the entire sub-county or even beyond.

For communities and homes that rely on National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), supply is intermittent during this time because water levels in rivers reduce like is currently the case with River Rwizi, the company’s source of water.

Mr David Opoka, the NWSC Mbarara area manager, says the company fails to meet the overwhelming demand for water during the dry spell.

read more here