Celebrating Progress in Kapeeka Village in Southern Uganda
by Gwynneth Evans, WaterCan Board Member

August 16, 2003, was a day of celebration for the community of Kapeeka, Wakiso District in Uganda. The well that WaterCan had helped finance was ready to be opened and handed over to community leaders. The guests made an inspection of villagers' homes, so that the heads of family could demonstrate their new washing facilities, the latrine and the shower. These had all been built with materials from around the shamba (the name of the farm and courtyard around a house): poles from trees, ties from banana leaves, and a plastic watercan from the empty container of cooking oil.

The members of the Voluntary Action for Development (VAD) team, our WaterCan partner, were very excited as we gathered at their Kampala headquarters to travel to Kapeeka. They had worked with the villagers for a number of months, building the well, training them to upgrade their sanitation and health practices, helping them design facilities to be used by the whole family, and ensuring that food, dishes, and pots were kept away from the poultry and animals. These one finds around many a home because self-sufficiency in food production is important for the more than 80% of 25.8 million Ugandans who live outside a town or city. Eight of the VAD staff joined me in sharing this happy day because the ceremony represented the completion of the first phase of water resource and sanitation services, but also clearly heralded the second phase when villagers would themselves work together to manage their new facilities and practise their newly learned skills.

Each day I was in Uganda, I learned something new. Ugandans taught me to appreciate the given things of life, both sun and rain, light and darkness. They taught me to be thankful for health, for family and schooling. In every village, both old and young live daily with the consequences of more than thirty years of two terrible killers: war and HIV/AIDS. And although 48% live without access to clean water (2003 UN Human Development Index), they focus on the development of their communities, on the future, and on self-reliance.

A few statistics illustrate the progress that Ugandans have made in the last decade. Since 1996, they have raised the number of children in primary school from 2.6 million to 7.2 million; they have significantly reduced the incidence of HIV/AIDS (among the adult population the prevalence declined from 18.5% in 1995 to 8.3% in 1999, according to the Uganda AIDS Commission Secretariat in 2001); and, the Government of President Museveni has increased the presence of the private sector and local non-governmental organizations (NGO's) to work with the public sector in addressing the urgent issues of development, including the eradication of disease and poverty.

VAD is an example of a relatively new NGO. It was formed by three people who had worked for the Roman Catholic Church, and when their project was complete in 1994, they decided that they wanted to continue to support community development
and to assist villagers in improving their quality of life.

VAD staff are talented individuals with different knowledge and skills. Many are young people, trained as teachers, social workers,
water engineers, nutritionists, agricultural specialists. But what they bring together as a team is a dedication to support the local community and to recognize that development happens at the grassroots level.

Through material support, training, consultation, encouragement and monitoring, they enable communities to analyse their needs and to implement solutions to meet those needs. Thus, August 16 was a day of celebration and recognition on the part of both parties – the community and VAD. I represented WaterCan in what was an essentially Ugandan event in which all sectors of the village had a role to play – men, women, and children. And my heart brimmed with joy, as I heard (often through translation) about what the community had learned and how its members intended to organize the management of their new resource and their training.

We sang, we danced, we made speeches, we transferred the key of the well to the management team and we had a feast – all of us together in the bright sunlight and warmth of the verdant and fertile land in Central Uganda. The food was delicious – matoke (banana), potatoes, chicken, cassava, gravy. Their energy, speeches and spirit were a tribute to their ancestors and lit many "dark places", providing us all with memories that will give strength for any future dark times. For, if you think about it, and are privileged to know Ugandans (as I have been most of my life) you will know that they are remarkable for their determination to make life better for their fellow citizens and for the young who will be the future.

As if the celebration itself had not been sufficient, the staff of VAD and I were sent off with gifts. The animation in the car on the way back told me how pleased everyone from VAD was. The staff joked and sang in Luganda, while I realized once again how much we have to learn about the essential values of life, and how we Canadians benefit by sharing the basics of clean water, sanitation and health promotion with those who wish to help themselves.

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