Uganda is blessed with beautiful nature scenes and topography; however, this in some parts of the country, becomes a hinderance to accessing basic water supply and sanitation services. Africa Water Solutions is working towards providing people with approaches to access safe and clean water and suitable sanitary and hygiene conditions.
Many districts of South-Western Uganda e.g. Kabale, Rubanda, Kisoro & Kanungu are extremely hilly and steep. Households in these areas settle along the slopes of the hills with only a few water sources that are located in the valleys. While there’s much water during heavy rainfalls, there is also prolonged dry spells yet the people predominantly depend on agriculture.
Anna Akankwas a resident of Mpungu village, in Rubanda district had to walk for 6 hours to fetch only one twenty-litre jerrycan of water before Africa Water Solutions constructed a rainwater harvesting tank for her home. She narrates that the tank has given her and the family relief from those long and tedious journies across hills to fetch water.
“Before I got the tank, I used to wake up at 6:00am to go and fetch water. I would find long lines because the well is only one; on top of that, the path there is rocky and steep and after all those struggles I would only leave with just 20-litres of water which is not even enough for my house household. My children were always late for school hence poor class performance,” explains Anna.
Primarily, the water source for the entire community is one well, the long distance and queues are an everyday struggle for people as they fetch water. The main occupation is farming-and spending hours daily to fetch water is troublesome and leaves them unproductive in the gardens.
Anna’s life and that of everyone in her household has since changed after receiving a rainwater harvesting tank in her home. As a mother, she has many responsibilities to take care of like cooking, washing, cleaning in addition to farming. Today, with no struggle of getting water, Anna has more time to fend and look after her family.
“Since we got the tank, I prepare my children for school on time, cook and go to the garden on time. Because I was gardening late or not at all after spending long hours while fetching water I was unproductive. But now, I don’t have to wake up so early to go the well, water is at my door-step” Anna testifies.
However, Marvelous was struggling to get water to improve on her sanitation due to the long trek of walking about 4 hours to and from the spring. Her husband suffers a long ill health and her child is mentally retarded. Construction of a 6000L Ferro cement tank adds a smile on her face, she is able to take care of the family and improve on her sanitation. 
He actually became annoyed with the AWS team and argued that, “How can I get more that fifty thousand shillings and put it on a latrine when my daughter has dropped out of school because of lack of school fees?” Slowly by slowly with triggering and training followed by monitoring Jackson destroyed the old pit latrine and built a new one after realizing that actually he could earn more if he was healthy. 
During the routine monitoring, Jackson told the AWS staff that he is just realizing how the team helped him to see his poor situation of WASH. That the latrine could have crumbled down with him, his wife or children, that it would have been disastrous to his family.
It was the AWS’s intervention that enlightened him to have a pit latrine and a bath shelter in his home. 
Evelyn and her family are living a happy life in a clean environment with good sanitation and safe water through SODIS method now after the training. Her husband also told the AWS staff that he used to walk for some distance to her mother’s latrine and sometimes his wife would fear to go there during the night. The couple constructed their own latrine which is nearer to them.
