At least 2,000 residents on Buvuma Island, the largest island on the Sese Islands chain, have received 430 water filters from SPOUTS of Water, a social enterprise that produces the Purifaaya Ceramic Water filters.

Purifaaya is a ceramic water filter made using local materials to provide an affordable, effective, and easy-to-use solution to water access in Uganda, and according to Paul Matovu, the SPOUTS’ social programmes manager, 10 Purifaaya filters were given to Kirongo Primary School, 20 filters were given to community leaders, while 378 filters were given to different households.

“To ensure that the community accesses safe water at all times and in all places, we installed water filters in public spaces that include churches, mosques, and the Busamuzi Health Center III, the only health center in the sub-county, to improve lives of more than 700 students and over 370 households,” said Mr Matovu.

With a population of approximately 20,000 people, Buvuma Island has one of the highest incidents of water-borne diseases like Bilharzia and typhoid because of poor sanitation. Meanwhile, studies show that up to 10 million Ugandans live without safe water and up to 75% of diseases such as diarrhea which affect them are caused by a lack of clean water and proper sanitation. Statistics further indicate that more than 15 million people, which is 53% of Uganda’s population, don’t treat water.

Mr Charles Aisu, the LC3 chairperson, thanked Spouts of Water for the outreach, saying it will go a long way in combating disease outbreaks on the Island.

“Busamuzi reports at least five cases of Typhoid and 39 cases of diarrhea every month, which does not include any families who could not afford to seek treatment at the health center, those who went to the other health centers, or those who turned to traditional medicine,” said Mr Aisu.

“I would like to request that the kind gesture is extended to other areas on the Island, as well,” he added.

Mr Haruna Watidi, the Kirongo Primary School head teacher, said every term, at least 40 pupils drop out of the school due to sicknesses from water-borne diseases.

“The on-and-off illnesses have led to more than 40 pupils totally dropping out of school because of often missing classes, but with this donation we hope we shall have the figure falling,” said Watidi.

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The State Minister for Primary Education Rosemary Seninde has warned Marie Stopes Uganda to stop issuing condoms and contraceptives to primary school pupils, saying government will take immediate action.

The minister issued the warning following allegations by the Abim District Resident Commissioner (RDC) Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka, who said that Marie Stopes was distributing contraceptives to primary school pupils as well as promoting homosexuality in schools.

“How do you give contraceptives to primary school children? It is like you are encouraging them to engage in sex,” Minister Seninde said in Kampala late last week, while at function to discuss the status of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in selected districts such as Abim, Kabarole and Gulu, among others.

Seninde, who said one of her children has gone through a typical UPE school, added: “Government is going to discuss the issue and we are going to follow this up seriously.”

During the function organised by the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), an independent public policy research and advocacy think tank based in Uganda and working in East and Southern Africa, RDC Hashaka said he had evidence that Marie Stopes Uganda, an affiliate of Marie Stopes International, was promoting ‘gayism’ and called on government to act.

Efforts to get response from Marie Stopes were futile as top officials there were unavailable physically and on phone. Marie Stopes, among others, provides contraceptives to Ugandans as one way of promoting family planning.

Meanwhile, Hashaka said that the thematic curriculum, where primary school pupils in lower classes are taught in their mother tongues was disadvantaging the children in Karamoja region, and called on the Ministry of Education to review the programme.

“UPE in Abim and the rest of districts of Karamoja region is dying because of the thematic curriculum,” Hashaka said.

Minister Seninde said her ministry was in preparations to assess to performance of the thematic curriculum, noting that despite some challenges, it has made positive changes.

Dr. Susan Kavuma, a research fellow with ACODE, says of the thematic curriculum: “We need an assessment of the local languages. How are the schools that have adopted it performing?” She said policy of teaching in local language in lower classes was not uniformly applied in all schools.

Former Executive Director of the Uganda National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE) Prof. A.B Kasozi, responding to the challenges that come with the instruction in local languages, blamed government for being slow to develop a national language. With different languages in the country, he said “the thematic curriculum is bound to encounter challenges where children from different backgrounds study in similar schools.”

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