Sustainable Water Point Maintenance Meeting
Amelia Lyons
Dear All,
A few of months ago, partner organizations active in water interventions in
Gulu District (ACF, AVSI, Uganda Red Cross Society, ICRC, Netherlands Red Cross
and The Clear Water Initiative) saw challenges being faced in Acholi Region
regarding water supply and unmaintained boreholes at the community level.
We found that there is an obvious a gap in the system. As part of our working
group, we were determined to identify where this gap occurs, and whether it
involves the local Pump Mechanics, the communities, the Sub-County, or the
District. Questions arose about the allocation of boreholes to Pump
Mechanics, user fees collected by the Water Source Committees, and
accessibility of available Spare Parts at the District level.
In order to address these problems and define the missing link in the supply
chain, we started a series of meetings, open to all interested organization,
during which we deliberated to jointly organize:
1.
A Pump Mechanic
Survey: to understand the real coverage of active pump mechanics and the nature
of problems that are preventing them from delivering effective performance.
2.
A refresher Pump Mechanic
Training: to rejuvenate the know-how of this incredibly useful body for the
water accessibility of the region.
3.
Inclusion of the Water
Source Committees in the above mentioned Pump Mechanic trainings to strengthen
the link between users and mechanics, and above all, to create financial and
management understanding within the committee to achieve a sustainable and
independent maintenance of the boreholes.
4. To create a functioning spare parts network, for those NGOs phasing out or donating their balance of spares from old programs. These parts could be delivered to the district, who in turn would sell them to the requesting Pump Mechanics at subsidized rates not subject to high market fluctuation.
Despite the initial high turnout
of the initiative, the meeting is now experiencing attendance problems. We
would like to emphasize the importance of this initiative in the long-term
sustainability of water programs in Acholi (and throughout Ugandan) and address
the increasing breakdown and non-functionality of boreholes.
This communication is meant to draw your attention to such important and
delicate issues, especially in times when is leading to the phase-out of many
organizations.
For these and many other reasons, all partners involved in this initiative
believe to be fundamental to the implementation of the points mentioned above
in order to empower local Water Source Committees to independently
guarantee their constant accessibility to clean water.
Therefore we warmly invite you to attend our meeting next week, Thursday the
18th of November at 2:00 PM, at the Gulu District Water Office.
Please come and be active part in this important activity, and also to review the developed Pump Mechanic Survey.
Sincerely,
Gabriele
Erba
Livelihood Programs Assistant
AVSI-Gulu
Amelia Lyons
WASH Program Manager
ACF-Gulu
Amelia Lyons
Hello all~
This is a kind reminder of the Pump Mechanic coordination meeting scheduled to take place today (Thursday) at 2:00 in the Gulu District Water Office. We will be discussing an initiative to identify ways to work through the lack of maintenance of boreholes in the Acholi region (details below).
We look forward to seeing you today at 2:00.
Cheers,
Amelia
Amelia R. Lyons
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program Manager
wash-...@acf-international.org
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ACTION AGAINST HUNGER | ACF-USA
Plot 20, Patiko Road, Laroo Division
P.O. Box 812, Gulu (Uganda)
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