borehole

A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground. Typically, a borehole used as a water well is completed by installing a vertical pipe (casing) and well screen to keep the borehole from caving. This also helps prevent surface contaminants from entering the borehole and protects any installed pump from drawing in sand and sediment.   

With proper maintenance and care, there are water boreholes in Uganda that are over 50 years old.

The less strain on a borehole, the longer it will last.  Ideally, there should be one borehole for every 250 households.   We have visited places where there is one borehold being shared among 9 villages.  This is unsustainable.

When a village doesn't have access to clean water, villagers will travel long distances to find it.  They will often go to a neighboring village and that will cause tension and quarreling.  There is not enough water from one borehole for multiple villages to access. More boreholes can reduce tension and stress on the boreholes and the people!

We've seen it, we've heard it.  Village elders have shared with us how unsafe it is for the women and girls to travel far from home in search of water.  We've seen the goats and cattle that are searching for water in a mud hole.  We've heard the pleas from the mothers that don't want to give their children water that the monkeys defecate in.