Water Safe in Moroto

In Moroto, in the Karamoja region, water is life. But also risk. Wells exist. Rain comes. Yet water is often unsafe. Animals contaminate it. Rainwater tanks are nowhere to be found. People who know how to build sustainable water systems are extremely rare. Three concrete interventions. One goal: make water a protected, accessible resource managed by the community itself.

Who they are

St. Kizito Nursery and Primary School Naoi welcomes 600 students and 42 teachers and staff. It is located in Moroto, the main town of the Moroto district, in the Karamoja — one of Uganda's driest and most vulnerable regions. Around the school, the community shares wells with livestock. The water a child drinks is often the same water cattle and goats have walked through.

How it works

The project works on three simultaneous fronts.

First: protect the wells. We build concrete drinking trough formworks. Simple, durable structures. They separate animal access from water intended for human use. Less contamination. Fewer diseases.

Second: collect rainwater. We install two 10,000-litre tanks at St. Kizito. Rain is no longer wasted. It is collected, stored, used. During dry periods — which in Karamoja are never rare — the school will have a reserve.

Third: train a local technician. Robert Lodonga, 25 years old, comes from Nachele, a village near Moroto. He will complete an internship in sustainable hydraulics. He will learn to install, maintain and replicate these systems. When the project ends, Robert stays. And with him, the knowledge.

Our support

Casa Costa Foundation ETS supports the project alongside STI (Solidarietà nel Terzo e Quarto Mondo), in partnership with the local organisation ISP in Africa. The total budget is approximately € 4,323. The project is not yet funded.

Why we do it

Karamoja is one of Uganda's most forgotten areas. Access to safe drinking water is not guaranteed. Waterborne diseases hit children hardest. But the problem is not only technical. It is cultural and systemic: there are not enough people capable of building and maintaining water infrastructure.

This is why installing a tank is not enough. We need to train the people who will manage it. We need to build structures that last. We need to involve the community from the very beginning.

Robert Lodonga is not a recipient. He is Moroto's future water technician.