The Water Tank Project

The primary school already has 2 tanks installed, but they are not in working order. This means that there is no source of water at Busoona. Our major work has consisted of repairing the current tanks, and we also purchased a new and larger tank. For each tank, we must dig a 4 x 4 x 4 foot hole for a drain, which connects to a 10 foot pipe. At the end of the pipe, we dig a 6 foot hole and fill it with rocks to help drain the water, which then irrigates the surrounding land. Water enters the tanks from gutters that line the roofs of the classrooms that collect water when it rains. A pipe is connected from the end of the gutters to the tank. A nozzle is installed at the bottom of the water tank, over the drainage pipe, for children to wash their hands and fill water bottles

We have to dig to install the drainage pipes because if they are not there, the water will pool on top of the soil and is a breeding ground for bacteria. The bugs and mosquitoes are then attracted to the water. The pooled water not only then becomes an infested breeding ground for bacteria, but malaria as well. The drainage pipes remove the spread of bacteria and malaria, while also irrigating surrounding land. On one of the tanks is on the back side of the school, and downhill slope leads to gardens and crops. The water pipes will help to irrigate those crops as well, which will provide food for the children as well

By having healthy crops, gardens, and water, the children do not have to resort to their difficult lifestyles. All the children walk up to 2 miles to school in the morning, and back home for lunch. Then they must trek back another 2 miles back to school for the afternoon, and back home again. All of this traveling is due to the lack of food and clean water available at the school.

A large portion of the money that we fund raised for this trip went towards paying for the 3rd water tank, as well as hiring a plumber and a few constructors to help us in installing the tanks. We dug the majority of the holes with some help from a constructor that we have now named “superman”. Superman has incredible strength and endurance and can dig at an unbelievable speed. We dig all of the holes with pick axes and hoes. After the holes are dug, we helped the constructors mix cement, and move materials to each of the tanks. The constructors themselves then build the base that the tanks sit on. We also helped the constructors fill the drainage holes with enormous rocks.

Progress has moved at an incredible rate. The digging and installation of the drainage systems and connecting the tans to the gutters was expected to take 12-14 days. Just after 5 days of work, we have completely installed all systems and the tanks are up and running! The fresh rain that we received here in Jinja over the weekend has provided the very first source of water to fill the tanks. On Monday, the school will have fresh water for the first time.

Due to our progress, we will start planting avocado trees in the garden and increase the teaching of Basic English and Basic Mathematics.