Phase2: Clean Water in Apac District, Northern Uganda through the H2O Health + (H2O+) Initiative

Summary

Phase 2 seeks to provide 75 deep boreholes to 75 villages in Apac District, Northern Uganda, that will also serve community health clinics and the inhabitants of the communities around them.

Background

The water crisis facing Uganda is well documented. Throughout the country, approximately 36% of the population lacks access to clean water. Poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water undermines public health and education efforts. Indeed, water-borne diseases is the leading cause of childhood mortality in the country In which infant mortality stands at 54 deaths per 1,000 live births and nearly 13% of the population dies before the age of five. ILF has been working in the region since 2006, having implemented two major programs, a sustainable energy program and a water/ sanitation program. ILF produces all of its water points with its own drilling equipment and in- house staff. As a result, ILF has been able to dramatically reduce the costs of producing a borehole - about $7,000 to $9,000 per deep borehole. Since 2006, ILF has produced over 200 boreholes, which have benefited over 150,000 individuals.

Location

Apac, Northern Uganda, Uganda

Attachments

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2012-09-...

2 participants | show more
Technical, from Gilles.Corcos, Agua para la Vida

Carmen Gonzalez of Agua Para la Vida (APLV)

I may be missing something, but I have not come across details of the means by which the water is pumped out of the boreholes and made available to the population.

I may be missing something, but I have not come across details of the means by which the water is pumped out of the boreholes and made available to the population.
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Carmen, all of ILF boreholes are equipped with either U2 or U3M handpumps. For this particular project we will be focusing in implementing U3M hand pumps for all the boreholes.
  
  Hello Carmen, all of ILF boreholes are equipped with either U2 or U3M handpumps. For this particular project we will be focusing in implementing U3M hand pumps for all the boreholes.
2 participants | show more
Sustainability

Meera Hira-Smith of Project Well

Hi Christine, Thank you for the answers to the previous questions. Looked into ILO's facebook account and saw some pictures and videos too. Everything looks great at the time of installation. Your website says "Over the past five years, Lifeline has completed over 220 boreholes ........... Lifeline’s water program has provided clean drin...

Hi Christine,
Thank you for the answers to the previous questions. Looked into ILO's facebook account and saw some pictures and videos too. Everything looks great at the time of installation. Your website says "Over the past five years, Lifeline has completed over 220 boreholes ........... Lifeline’s water program has provided clean drinking water to approximately 150,000 individuals at a cost of $8.00 a person". Do you have the geographical coordinates/ geocodes of all these 220 boreholes? You have mentioned that your organization will start using the sms system on BPN's PWX platform, When do you have plans to start texting because 94 of your projects, all of which are recorded as 'complete- successful', are already on the PWX site? If the number served to be the same or increased years after installation then you should get funds and keep expanding. Tracking is important because things just don't work the way it should once the implementer moves out from the area.
Wish you All the Best.
Meera HIra-Smith
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Meera, Thank you for your question. Over the past year, ILF has ensured that all its boreholes have been provided with geographical coordinates, which have been entered in an ILF master database. This database will assist ILF's WASH program when it will be time to implement the SMS system. We are currently still seeing with BPN h...
  
  Hello Meera,
  
  Thank you for your question. Over the past year, ILF has ensured that all its boreholes have been provided with geographical coordinates, which have been entered in an ILF master database. This database will assist ILF's WASH program when it will be time to implement the SMS system. We are currently still seeing with BPN how ILF will go about setting up the SMS system, and cannot provide an exact timeline as to when this is be completed. We hope that in the early to mid part of 2014 this will be completed and functioning in Uganda.
  
  As ILF moves forward with it's WASH program, it is ensuring that a systematic monitoring of all its boreholes are conducted (100% of the 2012-13 boreholes and 33% of the 2006-11boreholes. ILF is continuously working to ensure that its WASH program can continue implementation as well as expand as to reach as many beneficiaries as ILF's capacities can reach.
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Meera, Thank you for your question. Over the past year, ILF has ensured that all its boreholes have been provided with geographical coordinates, which have been entered in an ILF master database. This database will assist ILF's WASH program when it will be time to implement the SMS system. We are currently still seeing with BPN h...
  
  Hello Meera,
  
  Thank you for your question. Over the past year, ILF has ensured that all its boreholes have been provided with geographical coordinates, which have been entered in an ILF master database. This database will assist ILF's WASH program when it will be time to implement the SMS system. We are currently still seeing with BPN how ILF will go about setting up the SMS system, and cannot provide an exact timeline as to when this is be completed. We hope that in the early to mid part of 2014 this will be completed and functioning in Uganda.
  
  As ILF moves forward with it's WASH program, it is ensuring that a systematic monitoring of all its boreholes are conducted (100% of the 2012-13 boreholes and 33% of the 2006-11boreholes. ILF is continuously working to ensure that its WASH program can continue implementation as well as expand as to reach as many beneficiaries as ILF's capacities can reach.
3 participants | show more
WUC, CHC, Maintenance, and Sanitation

Paul Kaufman of Aqua Clara International

Hello ILO.....It is great to see that you have a lot of experience drilling wells, and its nice to know you can keep the drilling costs to a minimum owning your own drilling rigs. Nicely done!! As you've made clear in your proposal, it is vital to have education and follow up to ensure the wells continue working long after you are gone...

Hello ILO.....It is great to see that you have a lot of experience drilling wells, and its nice to know you can keep the drilling costs to a minimum owning your own drilling rigs. Nicely done!!

As you've made clear in your proposal, it is vital to have education and follow up to ensure the wells continue working long after you are gone. Your have mentioned the CHC's which you set up to help promote health and hygiene in the communities. You also talk about the WUC's but haven't clarified who initiated these groups. Are these already in existence, or government initiatives, or are these groups also set up by ILF?

As the WUC is in charge of receiving funds to maintain the well, who then does the maintenance. Are there trained well repairmen provided by the government, or does ILF also train repairmen to keep the wells functioning? If so, how much training do they receive, what type of support does ILF give them,...for how long... and are spare parts available in these areas to repair the wells...or does ILO have to provide them?

Sanitation: You have a line item for Sanitation, but i've missed what sanitation you are providing? Please clarify

CHC's: Are the CHC and CHW personnel paid by ILF, or are they volunteers. How do you monitor their work, follow up, household visits, etc. to ensure they are actually providing these services to the recipient community?

Looks like a good project and I look forward to your responses.
Regards
Paul
- Hélène Lefebvre of 1001 fontaines
  
  Hello, Thanks for sharing this proposal. Like Paul, I have a question about long term maintenance and sustainability. You mentioned in your proposal that the boreholes will be monitored over 3 years. What happens next? It is often seen in this type of project that the main challenge is maintenance after 5 years or more, so I am wonderin...
  
  Hello,
  
  Thanks for sharing this proposal. Like Paul, I have a question about long term maintenance and sustainability. You mentioned in your proposal that the boreholes will be monitored over 3 years. What happens next? It is often seen in this type of project that the main challenge is maintenance after 5 years or more, so I am wondering what measures ILF plans to ensure that the boreholes will remain in good conditions.
  
  I also would like clarification on measures taken to avoid recontamination of water once people get it from a borehole. In our safe water supply projects in Cambodia and Madagascar, we have seen that a critical issue is water transportation and storage, which, if done in bad conditions, leads to recontamination even though water was clean in the first place. How is this issue taken into account?
  
  Looking forward to your response
  Helene
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Paul, The WUC is a community based organization that is filled by all volunteer positions, required by the national government for all improved water sources and created by the implementing organization (e.g. ILF or district govt). ILF facilitates election of the 7 member WUC through a community meeting. All WUC members belong to t...
  
  Hello Paul,
  The WUC is a community based organization that is filled by all volunteer positions, required by the national government for all improved water sources and created by the implementing organization (e.g. ILF or district govt). ILF facilitates election of the 7 member WUC through a community meeting. All WUC members belong to the community in which the BH serves. As part of WUC training the WUC is responsible for collecting user fees, which generally are 1000 UGX per household per month. The fee is established at a community meeting run by the WUC. The Health Assistants at the Sub-County level are responsible for overseeing the WUC.
  In regard to maintenance, both the WUC and the hand pump mechanics preform aspects of it. The WUC and specifically the care taker is responsible for the condition of the borehole area include the fence, soak pit, keeping animals away and keeping the area clean. The caretaker works with the users to accomplish this. The hand pump mechanics role is to conduct assessment and repair the mechanic aspects of the hand pump.
  Currently, each Sub-County has a trained (either by govt or NGO) hand pump mechanic and the necessary tools which are hired to perform borehole repairs. ILF does not train hand pump mechanics at this time, but have provided a few sets of tools to districts as part of previous projects. As Lira is a sizable town and a regional trading center there are several hand pump parts suppliers that the the hand pump mechanics can purchase their needed parts from. ILF guarantees its work for a full 6 months against defects of supplies and equipment, but does not provide spare parts for repairs.
  ILF's WUC training includes two parts including Borehole Management and Sanitation and Hygiene. The Borehole Management includes all aspects of operations and maintenance. The Sanitation and Hygiene training includes sanitation ladder, ideal household, hand washing, safe water chain and is taught using PHAST tools. The WUC training is 2 days in length.
  As for the the CHCs, ILF is currently working with AfricaAHEAD on creating the CHC curriculum and implementation strategy and do not have detailed information to provide at the moment. However, based on previous CHCs implemented by AfricaAHEAD, the CHC/CHWs are regularly monitored through their bi-monthly/monthly trainings by the ToTs (AA consultant and ILF staff) on the weekly sanitation trainings the CHWs are to provide to their communities. In addition, ILF will be conducting borehole monitoring at each site to monitor the functionality of the borehole, and the WUCs, ILF plans on monitoring the impact of the CHWs in their communities as well (year 1: first visit is done approx. 1 month after completion of borehole, than 10-12 months after borehole completion. Afterwards, ILF seeks to visit each site once a year thereafter for the following 2 years.
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Helene, ILF monitoring strategy is conducted over a three-year period – this provides both the communities as well as ILF a timeframe to ensure that all tools and practices are understood and implemented so as to allow each community to take full responsibility of the boreholes. After 3 years, ILF will no longer monitor those bo...
  
  Hello Helene,
  
  ILF monitoring strategy is conducted over a three-year period – this provides both the communities as well as ILF a timeframe to ensure that all tools and practices are understood and implemented so as to allow each community to take full responsibility of the boreholes. After 3 years, ILF will no longer monitor those boreholes systematically, however, ILF will continue to conduct sporadic visits to boreholes older than 3 years. In addition, through the relationships established over the years with the communities, the WUCs, the VHTS and the Local council, ILF has the ability to remain in communication with those responsible of each borehole site, and if there are major issues concerning the maintenance or functionality of the boreholes, ILF is able and willing to assist these communities.
  
  As for the measures taken to avoid recontamination of water – this is a challenge that ILF continues to face, much like all others working in WASH. As ILF moves forward with this project, the measures taken to minimize this possibility, is the establishment of the CHCs, which is a 20-week sanitation and hygiene community training activity that will be implemented at each borehole site. The CHCs work directly with the households on a weekly basis, with in-depth education/awareness session of good sanitation and hygiene practices, which provide each community household the tools and knowledge to make the necessary changes that will benefit their health through access and maintenance of clean water – not just at the water sites, but in their households. In addition, ILF is working with Africa AHEAD, pioneers in the implementation of the CHCs, with an excellent track record of increasing good sanitation and hygiene practices at the household level in Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Ethiopia. ILF believes that this is minimized these types of challenges that we have faced over the years and strengthen our current WASH program for sustainability in the regions ILF works in.
4 participants | show more
Budget & FInance

Julie Smith of Lifewater International

This is a very large-scale program with a significant water impact- congratulations on this enormous effort. The total program cost is $724,000 and you have $475,000 in co-funding and are requesting the remaining $250,000. In the co-funding details, it seems like you are operating off a general cost per well of $6,500. However, in the ...

This is a very large-scale program with a significant water impact- congratulations on this enormous effort.

The total program cost is $724,000 and you have $475,000 in co-funding and are requesting the remaining $250,000. In the co-funding details, it seems like you are operating off a general cost per well of $6,500. However, in the funds requested for the remaining 14 boreholes, the cost per borehole is close to $18,000. Can you help explain the difference between the co-funding sub-programs and the activities that the funds requested will support?
Thanks,
Julie
- Gemma Bulos of Global Women's Water Initiative
  
  Hi Christine This is great! how wonderful that you have all the equipment to dig boreholes and have a very thorough WASH Education program. I see that you have some considerable community contribution which is great. I was curious about how involved the government will be. Will there be any contributions coming from them? Will they b...
  
  Hi Christine
  
  This is great! how wonderful that you have all the equipment to dig boreholes and have a very thorough WASH Education program.
  
  I see that you have some considerable community contribution which is great. I was curious about how involved the government will be. Will there be any contributions coming from them? Will they be more involved in data collection and tracking health improvements? How will their involvement be funded?
  
  Good luck!
  Gemma
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Julie, The funds requested are not only to over see the drilling of the 14 remaining boreholes but also to assist in the implementation of the Community Health Clubs (CHCs), currently the overall co-funding sub-programs have enabled ILF to ensure that 61 of the 75 boreholes construction will be funded and completed – however, most o...
  
  Hello Julie,
  The funds requested are not only to over see the drilling of the 14 remaining boreholes but also to assist in the implementation of the Community Health Clubs (CHCs), currently the overall co-funding sub-programs have enabled ILF to ensure that 61 of the 75 boreholes construction will be funded and completed – however, most of that co-funding does not cover the majority of the costs for the CHC implementation part of the project. The funds requested are to ensure that the CHC portion of this project is fully funded and will enable a total of 59 CHCs to be fully implemented in addition to the drilling of the remaining 14 boreholes.
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Gemma, ILF works closely with the Local District Offices in each district it has worked in since 2006 and has been able to establish a good working relationship with the Apac local council. This has enabled ILF to work closely with each community and establish good Village Health Trainers (VHTs) who are local government employees a...
  
  Hello Gemma,
  ILF works closely with the Local District Offices in each district it has worked in since 2006 and has been able to establish a good working relationship with the Apac local council. This has enabled ILF to work closely with each community and establish good Village Health Trainers (VHTs) who are local government employees and are responsible for the monitoring of communities to ensure that some of the basic sanitation components are undertaken, such as latrine construction, and rubbish pits. The VHTs, as part of the government, are responsible for collecting health data and tracking health improvements throughout the district. The government funds the VHTs.
- Rajesh Shah of Peer Water Exchange
  
  Following up on Julie's question, i assume you have raised $475k with a more detailed budget than you provided here. Esp. for sanitation. Is there any amount for monitoring (is there more details for the $58k for maintenance)? Can you please share those documents/information? Thanks, Rajesh
  
  Following up on Julie's question, i assume you have raised $475k with a more detailed budget than you provided here. Esp. for sanitation. Is there any amount for monitoring (is there more details for the $58k for maintenance)?
  
  Can you please share those documents/information?
  
  Thanks,
  Rajesh
- Julie Smith of Lifewater International
  
  Christine, thank you for your reply to my budget questions. Does this mean that if the funding is not raised, the majority of boreholes will be drilled without a CHC being trained? Or will you wait to drill the wells until you are able to train a CHC at the same time? When you describe AfricaAHEAD as a partner in establishing CHCs, I t...
  
  Christine, thank you for your reply to my budget questions.
  
  Does this mean that if the funding is not raised, the majority of boreholes will be drilled without a CHC being trained? Or will you wait to drill the wells until you are able to train a CHC at the same time? When you describe AfricaAHEAD as a partner in establishing CHCs, I take it that they are not supporting any of the costs? What is their role in the partnership?
  
  Also, as Rajesh is asking for a more detailed budget, I am having trouble with the numbers provided. How much are you estimating each borehole to cost and how much for each CHC? I am having trouble seeing where these fit into the budget you included.
  
  Lifewater works in Lira District, very close to where ILF is working. We have found that the VHTs need a significant amount of additional hygiene and sanitation training, as well as frequent follow-up to be truly effective at improving community health and hygiene. Do you provide any training and follow-up for VHTs or have you found them to be self-sufficient?
  
  I apologize for the long list of questions, but especially with Lifewater's work in the region, I have very curious to understand and hopefully gain insight from your program model.
- Christine Roy of International Lifeline Fund
  
  Hello Rajesh and Julie, As both of your questions are similar, I will answer both at the same time. The co-funding of the $475k have been raised and have been taking into account the funds available for this project. Part of the $58k for maintenance does include monitoring costs, notably in the first months of implementation, this is ...
  
  Hello Rajesh and Julie,
  
  As both of your questions are similar, I will answer both at the same time.
  The co-funding of the $475k have been raised and have been taking into account the funds available for this project. Part of the $58k for maintenance does include monitoring costs, notably in the first months of implementation, this is required on ILF behalf to ensure that the boreholes are functioning properly and and being used properly. In order for ILF to keep it's costs down, while the borehole maintenance checks are being conducted, ensure that the WUC are functioning and conducting their mandated activities, assess the activities undertaken by the VHTs, as well as monitoring at the household level is also performed to assess how households are storing the water, collection of water, and other indicators. ILF works closely with the WUCs and VHTs and will re-train both groups as needed to ensure that they are able to conduct their respective mandates in the communities where ILF has drilled boreholes. The CHCs are included in the cost of the boreholes and maintenance costs (which in the overall budget is included in the costs of the boreholes.)
  
  Africa Ahead is a consulting firm who are the leading expert on the developing and implementation of CHC, having successful programs in Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Ethiopia. They will not be contributing financially to this program, but work closely with ILF to implement the CHC (sanitation and hygiene focus) component of the WASH program in Apac for ILF. This will enable ILF to reinforce and ensure a holistic and high quality sanitation program that will increase the communities, WUC and VHTs abilities and willingness to practice good sanitation and hygiene practices.
  
  ILF believes in this project, and will move forward in its activities whether or not we are able to receive the full requested funding at the moment. ILF will ensure that all 75 boreholes are completed within the given timeframe, which will include setting up the WUC and VHTs as well as work with Africa Ahead in implementing the CHC - ILF will seek other venues to cover the remaining costs and will proceed with its activities - if needed, will hold the CHCs until funding is available to return to selected sites to implement the CHCs at a later date.

Rating: 6

review by 1001 fontaines

We did not receive a reply to our question regarding long term maintenance and sustainability (i.e. beyond 3 years), therefore the conditions are not met to express a strong opinion on this project.
Cost efficiency seems like a strength of this intervention as it allows wide coverage in a region where water needs are critical. The community-based component is key and detailed information on the invovement of beneficiaries as well as local authorities would have been highly appreciated (technical attachments could have been provided for instance).
Finally, the experience of ILF in the area is definitely an important aspect, which will surely allow addressing the durability challenge, both in financial and technical terms.
Rating: 8

review by Africa AHEAD

I feel that asking for our rating for this review may be a bit partisan as Africa AHEAD is partnering with ILF on this project. However I have confidence that the project design is going to succeed, as apart from the importance of ILF providing these boreholes, we at Africa AHEAD can guarantee high community understanding for the importance of protected safe drinking water, which in turn will ensure ownership. Our experience to date shows that using the Community Health Clubs to moblise community for good hygiene is one of the most effective methodologies to ensure sustainabilty, not only the infrastructure, but also most importantly the hygiene behaviour that will compliment the safe water and prevent disease. Although this is the first time we have partnered with ILF I am confident we will be a strong and complimentary team. Although the discussion has been mainly on hardware if anyone wants further clarification i can engage next week. I regret not being online over this period as have been travelling but will be back at my desk next week for any questions. I am submitting this response in case I miss the deadline for the rating.
Rating: 4

review by Agua Para la Vida (APLV)

This is a very large scale project with a significant potential benefit. Yet the proposal itself is remarkably undetailed. I like Christine's responses to questions, but I feel the proposal needs to be improved.

Specifically, there is little description of the CHC program, no mention of pumps, no specific description of government participation, no actual budget for the requested funds, no additional information attached...
Rating: 8

review by Aqua Clara International

This is an excellent project but seems to have a lot of additional committees and groups that often make coordination difficult in the long run. Never the less, wells are sorely needed and hope the ILF follow up teams will ensure sustainability of the project.

I would recommend supporting the project in part, or full if the funds are available.
Rating: 6

review by Blue Planet Network

As a partner in this project, BPN's ratings may be a bit more biased (though a bias has been built thru 8 years of peer review with many of the peers).

The Q&A clarified many of the missing parts of the proposal, which could have reflected the size and depth better.

Their rigor needs to be demonstrated better on their earlier projects.
Rating: 7

review by Global Women's Water Initiative

This is a huge project with a huge budget. I hope that they can find all the money to fund it and can ensure that the education and monitoring and evaluation is not compromised if all the money is not raised.
Rating: 3

review by Lifewater International

The program is very large and seems well thought-through, with intentional efforts put in to encourage sustainability. My concern is with the vague financial details and lack of a clear budget. Especially with such a large request, I am uncomfortable giving a high rating without understanding clearly where the money is going.
Rating: 4

review by Project Well

Whether in India or in Uganda monitoring should be done every six months after establishing the project is running smoothly. It is worth spending funds on monitoring and renovating or reviving historical projects than obtaining funds to expand showing the theoretical numbers and impressive photos with theoretical reports. The detailed budget is missing. It seems a lot of its expenditure is for forming groups and training. May consider establishing the use of metrics on PWX that would eventually enable auto-tracking.
Not Reviewed

by Team Blue

Name	Status	Completion Date	Final Cost
Primary Project of the H2O+ Program in Apac District (Water Sanitation Cookstoves)	pending	Dec 2014	0

Plan Amount:	724,000
Amount Funded:	389,193
Funded by:
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation	314,193
Aqua for All	40,000
S L Gimbel Foundation	35,000
Community Contribution:	36,200

plan 542Phase2: Clean Water in Apac District, Northern Uganda through the H2O Health + (H2O+) Initiative

by International Lifeline Fund in Uganda

Status: Plan accepted

Peer Review

Summary

Background

Location

Attachments

Focus

People Getting Safe Drinking Water: 37,500

School Children Getting Water:

People Getting Sanitation: 37,500

People Getting Other Benefits:

Start Date: 2013-04-01

Completion Date: 2014-12-31

Technology Used:

Phases:

Community Organization:

Government Interaction:

Ancillary activities:

Other Issues:

Maintenance Revenue:

Maintenance Cost: $58,000

Metrics:

Cost: $724,000

Co Funding Amount: $475,000

Community Contribution Amount: $36,200

Fund Requested: $250,000

Implementing Organization: International Lifeline Fund

Attachments