Uganda Orphanage Update
Click on SOROTI ORPHANAGE AUGUST 2010 to view the pdf file with the most recent photos and information. Here are two of the photos:
Staff finishing the paths in front of the new orphanage building
The Earlier Part Of The Story: 2008
Stockton Heath Methodist Church has recently supported an orphanage in Uganda. Its current premises are old and badly need repairing. A charity, the Care and Share Foundation, is helping to fund the 80 or so orphans and has bought land so that new purpose-made buildings can be constructed.
One of the fundamental requirements is a supply of clean water and because the new site is about a mile from a mains supply (and to which a connection would be expensive, as well as monthly metering charges)it was decided to investigate a possible supply from a borehole.
Arrangements were made for the geophysical survey and/or the drilling for a borehole to start at the end of May, to coincide with the visit for the next Board meeting of the charity. On arrival in Soroti, in NE Uganda, the drilling site was ominously quiet!
However word came through that the drilling rig would arrive in two days time and that the survey to locate the borehole would follow on the Monday. The survey took place but the instrument readings were very erratic and the Ugandan geophysicist was pessimistic about the chances of finding water. He eventually decided that the rocks – granite /gneisses for you keen geologists- were too resistant for his measurements to mean anything, and that he would have to repeat the survey with a more powerful machine. Unfortunately this would not happen for a week and the drilling rig was sent off site.
Another company repeated the survey and recommended that water might be found at 100 metres. This was too deep for the original and cheapest drilling company, whose rig was only capable of reaching 72 metres, and they withdrew from the project. A second company who had originally submitted the highest tender said that they would undertake the work and although it would cost about £1000 more, if water were found it would still be cost effective.
There followed a series of mobile phone calls to Sam Eibu, a Baptist Pastor, who has taken over the supervision of the project locally and he contacted me to say that the new drilling company was on site, that they were doing some serious drilling and that they had reached 27 metres....the story continues.
September 2008
...however... Tricky stuff this granite! ..... 4 geophysical surveys later, two attempts at divining, two drilling companies and a borehole drilled to 70m (in granite) have failed to find groundwater. While this was a huge personal disappointment we only spent about £500 on the surveys -rather than £5000 on the borehole (there was a ‘no water no fee’ clause in the contract)- which means we can now concentrate on other options .
- sell the existing site and buy a new one with proven groundwater potential
- pay for a mains connection
- develop rainwater harvesting
The last management board meeting visited a new site, but found it to be in the bush and too remote to be suitable for orphanage youngsters.
It was decided to opt for a mains connection- expensive £6000, plus monthly charges-with rainwater harvesting to minimise the monthly water usage charge. We now need to calculate the roof area of the new site, the amount of rain which falls each month, the amount of water the orphanage will want to use and then balance it all up to get the right number and sizes of tanks which are neither too large and never fill, nor too small and overflow.
This strategy also influences the style of the buildings because we will now go for several bungalow type units rather than two storey ones – to maximise roof area.
Can I thank everyone for their contributions for the sponsored Manchester to Blackpool bike ride. I estimate that the total from people from all over, plus gift aid, will be in the order of £2000, which will cover the tanks for rainwater storage.
June 2009
A recap ... 470 students of whom 83 are orphans are housed in an old building in Soroti. It only has four long drop latrines in total. Land has been bought nearby with a plan to build a new orphanage. The site has been fenced and a living hedge planted. The orphans did this themselves. The perimeter is about 400m long and they put in about 800 seedlings. Most plants have survived and are about 2 foot high. EFOD (Engineers for Overseas Development) went to Soroti in May to initiate the work and one engineer will be out there for the full 6 months - the estimated time for completion. Having such continuity is an unexpected bonus. Building work has started, but not without some hitches. It is planned to use the local electricity supply but the power lines run across one corner of the site. The planners want the front boundary of the site moved back 4 metres to be clear of the lines in case they collapse. Trees are important: the Jambula (Fig tree) can be retained but the Mango has had to be sacrificed because it had a snake living in it, and snakes are bad news! The saga of the water supply continues. We have a quote for 19m Ugandan Shillings (£6000) from the Area Office to extend the mains supply from Soroti Town. This is the same capital cost as for the borehole but it is hoped to negotiate the price down. In the meantime we have bought a Crest tank and brought in water via a tanker for a cost of £200 in order to provide water for the site workers and in construction work. The plan to use the local Marram soil – the typical red dust of Africa - is working well. By adding a little cement and a little water a moist mixture is created which can be hydraulically compressed in a mould to form bricks with a geometry which allows them to interlock. In two weeks they have made 732 straight bricks and 350 curved bricks – for the water tank. They have dug a soakaway pit 2.5 x 2.5 x 2m deep
What we plan to do now?
Looking back at the previous update it is good to report that some of the things we said we hoped would happen have actually started. Although the ‘dry’ borehole was a disappointment, we are excited about the start of the building of a new home for the Orphans.
Thank you to everyone who sponsored my bike ride last summer. It raised £1900. The total raised since July 2007 is £5500. The total needed for the whole construction programme is £55000.
Mike Eggboro