Water Collection in Rural Uganda

Welcome back to my blog. Following on from last week’s entry and how water scarcity disadvantages women more so than men, I want to build on that notion by particularly looking at the journey women of all ages and young men face in water collection. There will be a particular emphasis on a rural locality in the developing country of Uganda and forms of alleviating this. 

We know that water is not unanimously distributed within each country, resulting from different levels of poor water governance, physical factors as well as cultural social norms. Looking more so at the cultural norms for the rest of the blog, it can be the case where women throughout their lifetimes carry the burden of having to collect the water. I call it a burden, as their journey consists of a long walk, carrying heavy bottles of water, and being subject to many injustices and dangers, which will be discussed later on in this entry. 

Delving into the case of Uganda, it is a country that is deemed water scarce. Thus, a study was conducted in the rural area of Makondo Parish that looked into how women and young children are faced with the burden of water collection. For women, this responsibility arises from a very young age and continues further into their lives. While children of both genders face the gruelling responsibility of having to collect water for their families, this responsibility fades away as the boys get older. Once they reach a certain age, the prospect of a man going to retrieve water is almost laughable and their authority and manhood comes into question. This is not to say that men exclusively do not collect water, but this more so happens during a drought or times of distress. These deep-rooted cultural norms therefore significantly impact male contributions. On the other hand, young girls struggle to grow out of this burden, as their water collection starts at a young age and persists into the later stages of their lives. 

Source (which showcases old/young women and young boys collecting water)

What are the complications of this? 

In Makondo Parish, water collection points are situated in distant hilly locations hilly in which requires many hours of walking there and back. This subjects water collectors to many adversities. Firstly, children, both girls and boys, typically collect water in the early hours of the morning so as to not miss school, but this journey is long and tiring thus having effects on their emotional well-being, complaints about neck and leg pain, which consequently stands in the way of how they perform in education. Additionally, with these long journeys, women, in particular, have been targeted in sexual assault, which has severe impacts on mental and physical wellbeing. These implications are only worsened during the dry season as this reduces the availability of water available in these stores, thus increasing demand and the frequency of journeys made. If there were a way to alleviate this burden, women would be spending less time collecting water and more time doing something more worthwhile that could empower themselves.

So, how can we alleviate this? 

Eliminating cultural norms could solve the problem long term, but a faster approach could involve implementing infrastructures like pipes that allow for a direct flow of water into people’s homes. This could be done by employing people living in these areas and giving them a voice in how this is implemented and managed. In turn, this will empower inhabitants and also reduce the burden of collecting water as well as the adversities women face. This would also co-inside with the SDG targets 5 & 6 to develop this rural locality. If given the chance, women could use their time to go to work or advance their education, which could certainly contribute to the development of a more sustainable and well-rounded community which in turn will benefit the country of Uganda. Although, as it is a developing country, the funds to be able to do this could be difficult to find, thus leaving the construction of this being unfeasible and leaving the situation to remain the way it is.