Uganda Schools Programme

About our Uganda programme

Schoolchildren in rural Uganda spend hours fetching water from unsafe sources up to 2 km away. This affects their studies and water borne disease is widespread. A high proportion of girls also drop out of school when they begin menstruating.  

Following a successful pilot project in Kayijja in early 2023, we are continuing our schools programme in the Masaka district of Uganda, building 107 rainwater harvesting tanks using eco-blocks. These tanks will provide much needed water for 10,000 pupils and staff at 22 schools, delivering a wide range of benefits to health, education and the environment.

We are very grateful to The Emmaus partnership (linking 33 UK Diocese schools, led by St Edward’s Roman Catholic SEMH school in Hampshire) for raising funds to contribute towards this programme.

‘The longtime problem of water at our school has been solved. We feel relieved from the long distances moved every morning and evening looking for water from the well in the swamp. We now have enough water for drinking, and washing. We are saving time and energy for our class time.’   

Headteacher St Jude’s School, Kayijja, June 2023.

In Uganda our work generates a range of powerful outcomes, supporting a number of different Sustainable Development Goals beyond clean water & sanitation (SDG 6):

• where we have installed tanks, attendance levels have increased due to reduced sickness levels through a reduction in water borne diseases (supporting SDG 3 – Good Health & Well-being).
• pupils miss lessons to collect water and poor sanitation leads to girls dropping out of school once they begin menstruating. With our tanks we have seen an increase in school enrolment and girl’s attendance. Data collected from the schools where tanks are already completed show a 23% increase in girls attendance and enrolment in the schools increased by an average of 26% (supporting SDG 3 and SDG 4 – Quality Education).
• our tanks are enabling many schools to provide pupils meals for the first time and for cabbages, maize & bananas to be grown in school gardens (supporting SDG 2 – Zero Hunger).
• water from our tanks is being used to grow tree seedlings to plant in school gardens and distributed to parents and communities to enhance village micro-climates (supporting SDG 13 – Climate Action).