Location
Usuk, Katakwi District, Uganda
Community Description
Usuk Secondary School is a government-run school located in rural northeast Uganda. Water is generally obtained from boreholes. There is currently no electricity in the area.
The school has approximately 700 mixed boarding and day students in 6 different grades. Science classes are mandatory for the first 4 grades (S1-S4) and optional depending on which educational track the student follows in the upper level (S5-S6).
Problem Addressed
The science labs utilize a rainwater catchment system whereby water captured in gutters is pumped to a tower, and then gravity fed into the classrooms.
There are presently about 34 m of PVC gutters feeding into a 1,500 L plastic water tank. From there, there is a hand-operated pump that feeds into a 500 L tank on top of an approximately 10 ft tower. That tank feeds into the building, which is divided into three separate laboratory rooms, each with an attached storage/teachers’ room.
The physics and biology labs each have 13 sinks, 12 in the classroom and one in the storage/back room. The chemistry lab has an additional 4 sinks in the classroom for a total of 17. The sinks are in various states of disrepair.
Unfortunately, the hand pump broke many years ago, and since then, the rest of the system has fallen into disrepair. Therefore, the students, in order to conduct classes, must fetch water from the borehole, and are forced to wash lab equipment outside.
Project Description
This project is to renovate the water system supplying the science laboratories at the school.
A new hand pump will be purchased and installed.
Sinks will be repaired where possible. The remaining sinks, numbering about 4 or 5 per classroom will be replaced. The connecting piping indoors will be repaired as needed.
Work on the gutters and outside piping will complete the renovation and make the system operable.
The major installation of the hand pump will be overseen by a contractor chosen by the school administration and supported by the school staff. Unskilled work will be done by school staff.
Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the pump as well as the fittings and piping.
Project Impact
700 students will benefit from the project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Kenneth Ivory
Monitoring and Maintenance
The school staff will monitor and maintain the system after completion.
Comments
This is an important project for the school. It will vastly improve the educational benefits of the laboratory experience by restoring running water to the classrooms.
Dollar Amount of Project
$740.00
Donations Collected to Date
$740.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded through the generosity of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Kenneth Ivory.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will Kenneth of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Kenneth and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.