Karamoja Sub Region is one of the mineral rich regions in the country but most of its people live in abject poverty, making them hardly afford basic needs of life such as food, education, healthcare and water. This makes it impossible for socio-economic development of the sub region to thrive amidst numerous interventions undertaken by government and development partners both local and international. These interventions cut across several sectors including health, education and economic empowerment for the region.
Predominantly, being a semi-arid region, it comprises of 9 districts and almost all of them have a lot of minerals including Moroto district, which has been equally benefiting from interventions by development partners towards its education, water and sanitation sectors. Local leaders in the district have attributed school dropouts to not only shortage of schools but also to shortage of safe and clean water sources.
Data provided by the Ministry of Water & Environment through the Uganda Water Supply Atlas indicates that Moroto district has about 411 water sources serving a population of close to 99,012 people though in Nanyidik village in Rupa Sub-County in the same district, 500 people are dependent on one water source. This has made several households struggle for water for both domestic use and livestock that has seen many school going children waste a lot of time searching for water by trekking long distances.
"Water crisis in my area is a big challenge with a few of the boreholes stressed by many residents and sometimes breaking down" John Baptist Lokii, the member of parliament for Matheniko County in Moroto district emphasized during the Nanyidik Bull Roasting Education event that took place on 15 November 2023 at Rupa sub county, Moroto didtrict.
However, this narrative is yet to change with intervention from government and development partners. Nascent Research and Development Organization (NRDO-U) in conjunction with FEMI foundation secured funding for a WASH project titled "Improving Water Hygiene and Sanitation" (I-WASH), which aims to construct more boreholes in the region but also repair existing non-functional water sources in Nanyidik village.
"Our target is to reach over 2000 households to boost access to clean and safe water for these communities to transform lives of people especially women and children who are directly affected" Barbra Odongo, the Programs Manager for Social Protection at NRDO-U, stressed the need for this intervention.
Additionally in the Education sector, a similar outcry has been witnessed in Moroto district, with many children dropping out of school for not only water search but also shortage of schools with most of them located in distant places thus leading children to abandon school because of traversing dangerous routes that put them at risk of abuses such as defilement.
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"In Nanyidik village, the closet school is in the range of 7kms therefore children walk over 14kms to and from home to reach school" this shouldn't be happening, Anna Kamusiime, the Programmes Director at Nascent Research and Development Organization cautioned.
Nascent Research and Development Organization Uganda working jointly in the WNCB consortium (Work: No Child's Business), received support from the foreign Ministry of the Dutch Government to construct a community motivational education center since there was no primary school in Nanyidik village. This motivational center was initially using a temporary shade for classes of about 500 pupils, but after the construction of 2 classroom blocks, it is expected to accommodate over 2000 pupils and waiting to be coded by government.
"We are proud of this achievement but I have only 3 teachers who cannot match the huge numbers of pupils joining the school in this village" said Robert Oriokot, the new Headteacher of Nanyidik Motivational Center which will soon turn into a Primary School.
Oriokot stressed that himself is challenged by transport means to access the school since at times he walks the 7kms to and from this primary school.
All in all, amidst several interventions in Karamoja Sub region, development partners are worried that little has been achieved since whenever projects end, the positive impact and strides made diminish.
