The water is running in Kampala
Hajati Aisha Kyakuwa is 40 years old and has 5 children. She lives in Katwe I parish in Kampala, a slum area in the Ugandan capital. The slums face many problems, a major one being regular flooding after heavy rainfall.
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In 2009, upgrading and construction of drains commenced in the three parishes of Bwaise III, Katwe I and Kisenyi II, under the Kampala Integrated Environmental Planning and Management Project (KIEMP). The project, which is being jointly implemented by the Belgian development agency BTC and Kampala City Council, aims to improve the quality of life of poor communities in the slums.
Aisha tells us how living in Katwe I used to be: "When it rained, the water was flooding and entering into the house."
Mayemba Abdul Nasser (27, teacher) has similar experiences. He was born and raised in Katwe I parish and still lives there: "Before the construction of these drains, we really had a poor standard of living. There would be floods and water would come into the houses and businesses, especially during the rainy season. The drains were very deep before they were constructed and they had a lot of meanders and holes where garbage would get stuck. Then water could not flow well."
However, thanks to the construction of drains, things have changed for the better. As Aisha confirms: "Last week we had a very heavy rainfall, but water was flowing smoothly. We have no stagnant water. People are happy. Now you see the drainage is clean."
Both Aisha and Abdul remember the outbreaks of cholera several years ago in Katwe I when drains containing both rainwater and sewerage would flood into people's homes. And stagnating water in unconstructed drains used to be a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes transmitting malaria. But now, since water flows properly through the drains, there are less cases of malaria, and only minor cases of other water-borne diseases.
"Life has totally changed in Katwe I," concludes Abdul.
Facts and stats
- Kampala Integrated Environmental Planning and Management Project (KIEMP) is a 5-year project (2006-2011), funded by the governments of Belgium and Uganda and Kampala City Council to the sum of € 6.6 million.
- The project aims at improving the quality of life of poor communities in informal settlements in Kampala by strengthening the capacity of Kampala City Council in environmental planning and management; changing the behaviour of local communities towards local infrastructure; and improving environmental and housing conditions.
- One component of improving environmental conditions is the extension of the drainage network in the project area, which has a population of about 35,000.
- In total, 8.43 km of drains were constructed and stone-pitched in the three parishes of Bwaise III, Katwe I and Kisenyi II.
- Construction of drains has significantly reduced flooding in these parishes.
- One of the parishes, Bwaise III, which is constructed on wetlands, still floods, but the time the water needs to withdraw has reduced from several days to a few hours.
- Behavioural change and social mobilisation activities are focusing on getting the communities to keep the drains clean and maintain them.
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