Safe water at last for muddy Kazo

Mud was a health hazard in Kazo until WaterAid and YIFODA diverted raw sewage into a managed latrine system.

Credit: WaterAid / Libby Clarke

Life in the slum of Kazo, on the outskirts of Uganda's capital Kampala, is busy, crowded and above all, muddy. The slum is at the bottom of a slope, so wastewater drains downhill and ends up collecting here.

The mud is broken up only by pools of stagnant water, amongst which hundreds of children play with each other and their makeshift toys. The small, tightly packed, ramshackle houses have tide marks about a foot above ground level that show how high the water level rose in the recent rains.

But life is looking up. The mud no longer carries the huge health risks it used to as thanks to WaterAid and its partner YIFODA, it no longer mixes with raw sewage and contaminates the drinking water.

A couple of years ago open defecation was commonplace here, especially amongst children. The adults tended to use makeshift latrines raised above ground level which drained into the slum's few open drains, overflowing to mix sewage in with the ever present mud.

Although the slum isn't far from the main road under which the city's water pipes run, the city water authority didn't want to dig through the waterlogged ground of the slum and were worried about who would foot the bill. So the community's only water source was a muddy pond.

In partnership with YIFODA WaterAid identified a spring in the slum which could be used as a safe water source once it was sealed and protected with concrete. The spring now bustles with life as hundreds of children come here every day carrying jerry cans of varying sizes to collect water for their families.

One of Kazo's children collecting water from the WaterAid protected spring.

Credit: WaterAid / Libby Clarke

The spring is managed by a voluntary community committee, chaired by 27 year old Kajimoujohn, who commented: "The spring here was protected in 1999 or 2000. Before we got our water from an open pond, where the water was very dirty. It was very difficult to collect and it changed colour as we collected it - we had to wait some hours for it to clear again.

"It now takes less time to collect water and you know you can always get water - before the old source would dry up sometimes and then people had to walk a mile to buy water from a tap."

WaterAid and YIFODA also negotiated a small plot of land on which to build a communal latrine block which is now used by over 500 people.

The community has come up with its own management structure for the latrines. Some latrines are leased to groups of households whereas others are kept free for use by passers by who pay one-off fees.

The money collected is saved ready to pay for the latrines to be emptied. The management committee also organises the cleaning of the latrines.

Sylvia Kirgwajo, a member of the latrine management committee, described the difference the latrine block has made to the community's health:

"Before we had the latrine block we had traditional latrines in a miserly state. The children were getting avoidable diseases like diarrhoea, malaria and cholera. When the children used to get ill we took them to Malago Hospital four miles from here. Some were given beds, some were sent to clinics and some died. The children who died were often just four, five or six years old. The new latrines are much better; the children don't get so many diseases."

As to the mud, it's next on WaterAid and YIFODA's list of problems to solve. The two organisations are now investigating different drainage options for the community.