CHRISTIAN ENGINEERS IN DEVELOPMENT
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New Pumping Station at Ngora

Rehabilitation of Ngora Water Supply, Kumi District, Uganda. 1998 - 2000

Aim and Location

Ngora (pop. 19,000), in north-eastern Uganda, became a centre for medical and educational institutions between 1930 and 1950. It boasted a hospital, a maternity training school, a school for the deaf, six schools, of which three were secondary boarding schools (one for girls), two theological colleges and a technical school. A pumped water supply from the Agu River, 12 km. distant, was built in 1950 but was vandalised, the pumps stolen and many of the installations damaged during the civil war of 1980. A programme of relief boreholes drilled by UNICEF in 1985 was of very limited success. The total inadequacy of the water sources available placed a severe burden on both the institutions and the community, particularly the women.

In 1997 CED received a request for help from Vision Teso Rural Development Organisation (Vision Terudo), a Ugandan NGO based in Ngora, active in the community sector and with a particular concern for women's issues. CED undertook a technical appraisal of the water supply needs of Ngora and prepared proposals to meet the immediate needs of the town and the community.

Following an agreement between the Water Development Directorate, Kumi Local Government and Vision Terudo, a phased development was initiated and designed by CED.

Results

Phase 1 was started in August 1998 and successfully completed in October 2000. The work was undertaken by community groups, assisted by paid craftsmen, with technical oversight by CED's Engineer working on site in Uganda. The specific results are:

• It is reliably providing 40,000 litre/day of clean treated water to Ngora to meet the immediate needs of the community and its institutions.
• The operation and maintenance of the supply is under the control of the Ngora Water Supply Users Association, involving the main beneficiary groups.
• The expeditious and economic way in which it has been completed clearly demonstrates the value of local community action groups working in concert with non-profit making professional development organisations in the resolution of rural development problems.
• Women, in particular, spend far less time and energy finding water.
• It is expected that health and hygiene will shortly be seen to have improved.

Subsequent phases will deal with the foreseen expansion in the area and increased demand.

Role of CED

CED was the design authority and managed the implementation programme through CED’s young Engineer working on site throughout the programme. CED entered into a Joint Funding Agreement with the British Government's Department for International Development (DFID), with matching funds being obtained from other UK private sources. CED was the fund holder, accounting for all expenditure, which was later audited.

Total Cost of Project

The total cost of the project was €248,016 (£152,241).

Project Donors