Mwangi Borehole Project

We have been concerned for some time about getting a clean water supply to St. Joseph School at Mwangi. This school is north of Kampala, in an arid area, and there is insufficient rainfall to keep the water tank full. This is also dangerous for the children because, if the level in the tank is low, the water becomes stagnant and can cause illness.

This village is the poorest community which ACE supports.

The best way to obtain a regular supply of clean water in the area is the provision of a deep borehole, with a pump at the top. The water table is usually between 70 and 100 metres beneath the surface.

As ACE has no expertise in providing this kind of water supply, we contacted The Busoga Trust, a Christian charity which has provided many boreholes in this area of Uganda.

A contact at their headquarters in London put us in touch with Johnson Waibi who is their Programme Manager in the area. He advised us that the first thing we needed was to get a hydro-geologist to carry out a survey at the site. Our Ugandan representative, David Epidu, was present for the survey.

ACE has paid the £150 cost of the survey.

Johnson Waibi

We were originally planning to carry out this project with most of the funding raised by Cape Cornwall School, St. Just. However, the estimate of cost was higher than we originally thought and they are now raising money for some of our other projects.

The Survey

This report, and the pictures, were sent to us by David Epidu -

It was on 18th December 2008 when a team from Busoga Trust visited St. Joseph Mwangi primary school to carry out a survey on the possible site where the borehole could be drilled. The team was accompanied by the ACE representative in Uganda, Mr. Epidu David.

On that day the work was not successful as the machine which detects water (terrameter) failed to read anything. This was because the sun was too hot and the ground was very hard for the machine to penetrate. The geologist said that this was because the machine was so computerised it could behave that way.

So he suggested that he could collect another machine which could handle tropical climate and repeat the same work the next day.

So all agreed with him and the next day the same was done and the work was very successful.

Water was sighted at about 80 metres deep and it was good that the site was near St. Joseph pupils' football pitch, just in the school compound, so pupils will not have to go a long distance for clean water.

Steven, the geologist, and Dan, from Busoga Trust

The work was not all that simple - it was so tiresome and time-consuming as the day was very hot and windy.

After the work the geologist asked me to go and meet Johnson and discuss the possible amount which is needed to drill and build the borehole up to completion, and this would be just after Christmas season, so I will plan to discuss the matter with him just after Christmas and will be able to feed you with the correct information.

The members of the community were present and very happy to see that ACE was making arrangements to provide the pupils and the community with very clean water, and thanked David for his time he has given to help the poor children of Mwangi village. They also asked me to thank all those who are planning to contribute funds for the clean water in their area.

The community also assured me that they are ready to work hand-in-hand to see that the borehole is well maintained and also well protected, so that the borehole is not being misused by those careless individuals who may want to mishandle it.

They also said that nobody had ever thought of providing the area with clean water if it was not that God gave them a mother from London (Angela) who has helped them to solve most of their problem in Mwangi, so they are not ready to disappoint her because they might never get any chance if they don't please her.

The local leaders also told me that they are ready to work with ACE in order to develop this school. They know that their school was the poorest in the area, but now it is becoming one of the best since ACE started helping it with all that they have done.

MWANGI COMMUNITY WISHES YOU ALL A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

Thank you.

Survey Result and Cost Estimate

Two main points emerged from the survey.

The first - the good news - is that there is water under the school grounds that can be tapped into at about 80 metres below the surface.

The second - the bad news - is that Johnson estimates the cost as 16,000,000 Ugandan Shillings which equates to between £5,500 and £6,000. This is much more than we had expected. The reason that the estimate is high is that there is hard rock under the surface. Drilling it would involve heavier machinery, air compressors and high fuel costs.

Obviously we were disappointed to hear this news. If we were to proceed, it would wipe out our current reserve of funding. As we support nine schools, we would be unable to proceed with other projects which we are hoping to carry out this year.

We have not given up on the project and are liasing with Busoga Trust to try to find a way forward. We are exploring other funding possibilities. We will also ask whether there might be another site nearby where the geology is more favourable.

Further information will be posted here as soon as we receive it.

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