1. Increasing Access to Safe and Clean Water.

Uganda, like many other developing countries, faces huge challenges with multiple issues that adversely affect public health. One major challenge is the ability for both rural and urban Ugandans to access a clean water supply. According to the WHO (2006), only 49% of Uganda’s population had access to adequate safe and clean water. This means that approximately 13 million people live every day without regular, dedicated access to improved water sources. Improved water in this situation means safe, clean drinking water that has been at least minimally protected to remove contaminants and pollutants. It doesn’t necessarily mean purified water.
Most of the population relies on surface water instead of groundwater for everything they do, like drinking, cooking, washing, and living. They have no way to access groundwater.
This isn’t very safe because surface water is much easier to pollute than groundwater. Naturally, groundwater isn’t terribly contaminated, and it’s often easier to remove contaminants from it than from surface water.
Also, when surface water is used up, there’s no real way to restore it. These freshwater sources dry up often, and as they start to recede, the risk of pollution become even greater.

The implications of lack of access to clean water are widespread.
• 80% of the illnesses in Uganda can be traced back to waterborne illnesses or a lack of improved sanitation conditions as a result of the inability to access regular clean water. Cholera is one of the most common of these illnesses in Africa, with typhoid, Dengue fever, and hepatitis on the list as well.
• Young children die from dehydration and malnutrition, results of suffering from diarrheal illnesses that could be prevented by clean water and good hygiene.
• Women and young girls, who are the major role-players in accessing and carrying water, are prevented from doing income-generating work or attending school, as the majority of their day is often spent walking miles for their daily water needs.
• The women and girls are also at an increased risk for violence since they travel such great distances from their villages on a daily basis, and are even at risk when they must go to the edge of the village to find a private place to relieve themselves.
• Poverty in Africa is often caused by a lack of access to clean, safe water and proper sanitation.
• A full Jerrycan of water usually weighs around 40 pounds, and some women make this trip more than once a day. Because of this, most women are uneducated and never hold down a job. This, in turn, leads to a worse economy because fewer people are working regularly.
• Young girls often drop out of school when they reach puberty because of a lack of sanitation and toilets, and they soon are trained as the new water carriers for the family.
• Around the world, agriculture is the primary means of survival for 84% of people living without access to improved water conditions. This is equally true across Uganda, where agriculture puts a huge strain on the water supply while simultaneously causing it to be even more polluted than it ordinarily would be.

Suubi Community Projects Uganda has since the past 4 years partnered with BridgIT Water Foundation-Australia to address the challenges mentioned above by providing safe water sources to rural communities in Uganda. We provide safe water sources and locate them as close to the homesteads as possible. To date, approximately 105 wells have been constructed, impacting about 100,000 people.

It is great to note that in those communities where we have put a Well, the impacts have been realized; incidences of water borne illnesses have reduced, more children have been enrolled and retained in schools, women have engaged in more productive activities and the overall livelihoods in households has improved.
The need remains huge and we are always overwhelmed with requests from villages and communities that need a safe water source.

We employ 4 technologies while constructing safe water Wells:
• Hand Dug deep Wells capped with a Hand pump.
• Drilled deep Wells capped with a Hand pump.
• Drilled deep production wells installed with an electric pump.
• Drilled deep production wells installed with a solar pump.

Suubi Community Projects is very much concerned about the sustainability of the Wells. Sustainability gives value to the invested funds, and above all consolidates impact.
We ensure sustainability by engaging the community members at all stages of Well construction. This encourages ownership. The community members donate the land on which the well is constructed (where there is no public land), they accommodate and feed the constructors for as long as they are on the job. The villagers also are encouraged to participate in some of the unskilled labour required on site.

Once the Well is in place, we train the community on the formation and purpose of a Water User Committee (WUC). This committee helps to make sure the well is sustained by collecting an agreed and affordable amount of money that is used for maintenance and repairs on the Well.

2. Improving quality of Health care service provision

The health system in Uganda is based on a referral system, existing of different levels of health care. The health care provider in charge of the Health Center can refer the patient to a higher level and this can be continued until reaching the highest level. Hospital services are provided by the public, Private Not for Profit (PNFP), Private Health Practitioners (PHP), and Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practitioners . The private sector provides about 50% of reported services (they are however expensive and can’t be afforded by the majority). Public health service in Uganda is provided without user fees; however, user fees in private wings of public hospitals remain. This means that Public Health facilities are the most used because they are affordable and easily accessible especially in rural areas.
80% of the Uganda population live in rural areas. The main referral health facility is rural areas is a Health Centre III. These health facilities are the most accessed and used, but unfortunately they are the most under facilitated. Most of these health centers have no water supply, and have no electricity.
For these reasons, Suubi Community Projects gave priority to this level of health facilities. With funding from BridgIT Water Foundation, we have already successfully provided water supply systems to 4 health centre IIIs. The impact was immediate and great.
 Patients no longer have to carry water to use at the health centre, and this has greatly improved the confidence of people to access health care.
 Staff members can now happily reside at the health facilities and this has resulted in timely and better care for patients and other service provision
 The water systems are shared with the surrounding community and this has improved the relationship between the health facility and the community people.
 Incidences of water borne diseases has greatly reduced.
Other than providing these health facilities with safe water supply, Suubi Community Projects also works with funders to provide the facilities with solar lighting, laboratory equipment, delivery beds as well as other needed supplies.

3. Improving quality of Education service provision

Nelson Mandela once said ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’. Education, both formal and informal, can give one the knowledge, skills and confidence to build a better future.
In Uganda, getting access to education in the first place can be a huge challenge. In 1997 the Ugandan government introduced universal primary education (the idea that all children should be able to attend primary school for free) and in 2007 universal secondary education. Unfortunately the demand for free education outstrips the availability of places at the free government schools. It is not uncommon for schools to have well over 1000 children, with very little in the way of facilities.
Most of the government schools are very far from some of the communities making it hard for young children to attend. This was the case for the situation in the community of Kabawala. The nearest government school is approximately 15km away. Children were unable to walk this distance to attend school, unless they are big enough.

In 2012, parents around this area agreed to start a school closer to them for the benefit of their children. The local church offered land, and the parents were able to put up semi-permanent structures that the school has used since. That is how Kabawaala Infant School,(also known as Lauren Memorial School) was born. The school currently has 382 children, all from needy families.

Over the years the school has been limited by lack of adequate facilities, early 2016, the government threatened to close it down. At this time, the parents and community contacted Suubi Community Projects-Uganda, with a request that we take up the management and development of the school.
With funding from Awesome Cause Foundation and Friends of St.Georges, Luxembourg we have been able to put in place: The recommended number of teachers, a modern pit latrine and school kitchen, a borehole for water, 3 permanent classroom blocks, classroom desks, text books and others scholastic materials.
We also provide a daily nutritious lunch to all the kids while they are at school.