12/23/2024
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Kyangwali refugee camp gets water,sanitation facilities

 


Peter Galemera, 83, is disabled and  has lived in Kyangwali refugee settlement camp for over 17 years.

He fetches water using his wheel chair. He waits long hours for kind-hearted people to pump water for him from a borehole.

"I could sometimes sit for about an hour before someone comes. Witnessing the commissioning of the modified boreholes gives me great joy," he said.

He added that using latrines was also a big challenge because they didn’t have ramps and they were very dirty.

"I kept on praying to God that these bad conditions improve one day. I believe he has answered my prayers. I have also received wooden toilet seat, life is to change for good," Galemera explained.
 
Galemera was among many persons with disabilities who witnessed the commissioning of the water and sanitary facilities in Kyangwali by World Vision to be managed by the government.

The settlement is located in Western Uganda, 80 km from Hoima. Kyangwali hosts approximately 25,000 mostly Congolese and Sudanese refugees.

There’re also refugees from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, and South Sudan.

Warren Tukwasibwe the program manager operations world vision said US $ 500,000 (sh1.5b) was allocated to construct water and sanitation facilities to benefit the people including the 400 disabled and elderly persons living in the camp.

"We are happy that the work is complete and we are handing over the facilities to government, we hope the community members will use the facilities properly," he explained.

Among the facilities handed over were 13 deep boreholes equipped with hand pumps, 84 stances of drainable latrines for primary schools, 14 blocks of 6 stance urinal for boys and 6 stances washrooms for girls; all including stances for disabled.

82 standard VIP latrine stances for secondary schools, including washrooms for girls, nine VIP latrine stances for teachers, nine stances of latrines at Kasonga, Kinakitaka, Nyamiganda villages.
 
Also 100 latrine digging kits were distributed to 10 households, 15 water transportation devices, 70 water storage tipping devices, 65 wooden latrine seats, 49 metallic latrine seats, and 100 knee pads.

Beatrice Kaggya the assistant commissioner disability and elderly at the ministry of gender, labour and social development received keys for the facilities on behalf of government.

She said these facilities will be of great benefit to the people of Kyangwali calling upon them to handle the facilities with care putting in mind how they have been suffering.


 





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