water use etiquettes in Uganda: a case study of Gayaza town and the surrounding community, Uganda.

I am carrying out on a project of investigating water use behaviours among local community members in Gayaza High School and its neighborhoods i.e Gayaza Town, 17 km north of Kampala city. Water use behaviours by local community members could tell us on the adaptation to climate change impacts. Do they conserve water? how much do they use and need in times of scarcity? How much knowledge do they have on the need to use water sparingly so as to cope with climate change monster?
‘THE CAMERA SHOWS IT ALL! WATER USE ETIQUETTE IN GAYAZA HIGH SCHOOL AND ITS NEIBOURHOOD’

Project director: Mr. Ngerageze Emmanuel, GCAI, Uganda

Efficient water use is critical in this age of climate instability. Whether we are using it sustainably or not is not clearly known. The behaviors and attitudes of people in using water in the community have not yet been established in our local population and in our neighbourhoods. The behaviours in use of water and its handling probably are contributing to climate instability today. In order to understand the mechanism of coping and adapting to stress-full situations of water scarcity and excess as a result of climate change, we need efficient use of this resource now and for the future.

During the dry season we experience problems of water scarcity for domestic purposes in our homes. The prices of water reach up to 500 shs.for a 20 litre jerricane at Gayaza! It is estimated that 40% have no access to enough and clean/safe water in Uganda. Many people do not access clean water in Uganda especially in rural and peri-urban settings.

Even when it rains heavily we see many pools of water in the compound and no effort is put to save the water for the next dry season. It is left to dry up or to flow away without being harvested. The next day people start queuing up for water at boreholes and other sources.
In the farming sector there is always poor harvest whenever rains are scarce leading to shortage of food supply and hunger. Most of the agriculture around is rain fed. Irrigation possibilities are limited by lack of infrastructure and finances as well as know how, will and water availability.

To feel the pinch in our pockets, parents pay heavily for water supply in schools by purchasing expensively water pumps, building water storage tanks, laying pipes for water supply and cleaning the water for use in the kitchen. But these resources could be being wasted through bad water use practices at school.

Gayaza High School being a girl’s school with a population of over 1100 student and about 150 teaching non teaching staff during the term, we using more than…cubic metres of water daily worth…$ according to the school administration. We have recently diverted to use of water closets for the toilet from pit latrines.
There is a need to evaluate the way we use water, whether we use efficiently or wastefully not only on the campus but also in our neighborhoods for a better comparison of our behaviours.

What will the data collected be used for?

This data will enable us to design course of action for promotion of efficient water use in our school, homes and communities.


What educational goals will the learners achieve?
(a) Development of ICT skills
The learners will develop an electronic portifolio, create story boards, ICT skills to present their findings to local community members and Local MP’s or cabinet representatives,
(b) acquire skills of solving a local social problem
(c) Together with local community develop intervention strategies or design by laws towards use of water efficiently.
(d) Advocacy skills: The learners will then write a press release, and publish it in the New Vision Newspaper, or any other.
(e) acquire civic skills: They will have meetings with community representatives whom they will have interviewed to share the results and experience
(f) and map out strategies to improve on the status qou
(g) Involvement of local community members into planning: Learners and community members will then have a special meeting with local area Member of Parliament representative to push on government for an appropriate policy implementation towards safe water use and health of people.
(h) Change of behavior and start positive attitude to efficient use of water resources



Project Title: ‘The camera shows it all!-Water use etiquette audit in Gayaza High School and its neighborhood’.


Equipment:

6 Digital cameras

1 Video camera

20 copies of questionnaires sheets

Note books

6 Watches

Dates:

• Mon 18th- 20th June 2011
• Mon 8th August 2011- ‘Lousing week’- to assemble results, edit and interpret recorded data

Class: S5A: Geography class

Age: (18-20 years)

Teacher(s) in charge: Mr Ngerageze Emmanuel, GCAI & GHS project designer and director

IT specialist teacher: Mr. Kizza Vincent, GHS

Curriculum links:
Geography
Chemistry
Physics
Technology
Math
Art
Civic education
Culture
ICT
Organisation/process

Friday 15th teams are made and instructions designed by the teachers


6 teams of researchers are made:

Site Group no. Group leader/camera girl
Washing Bay:
Nakisinde Grace
Musoke Priscilla
Konso Faimah
Okumu Abigail 5 Konso Faima
Borehole:
Nakiyingi Stella
Joana
Viola
Teddy 2 Nakiyinji stella
Homesteads & Jajjas:
Nassuna Anilla
Kaitesi Maxine
Namirembe Robinah 6 Nassuna Anilla
Nowembabazi Diana
Ajok Becky
Mussimwe
Nalule - Nowembabazi Diana
Teacher - Teacher

N.B the groups were formed according to the number of Cameras available

Each team will have:
• A camera person to take what your group thinks and sees as part of water use etiquette. This should be preferably the one possessing the Camera
• a secretary who will record appropriately any data you gather in the field
• an interviewer who will lead interviews
•

Monday 18th July 2011: Instructions and methods:

You will work in your teams to survey water use in and around our school

1. You will use the camera to shoot anything/activity/area/objects that you think constitutes the theme water use behaviors and practices by the people in our community and our neighborhoods. Look out for both good practices and bad practices.
2. For example good practices and bad practices with respect to the following:
• leaking taps or tanks,
• miserable people with gloomy faces- a family with no water
• overflowing water at a tap
• someone wasting water
• water storage methods and technologies
• water harvesting practices
• water sources and they state of hygiene, and use
• collecting at sources eg boreholes, at the taps or wells or springs or other
• water uses in industry-eg. Building, agriculture etc
• car washing bays
• Washing utensils?
• Laundry activities

3. Make short notes or record of each scenario you photograph in your note book


Interviewer session:

You will hold interview sessions with people you visit and or find at suitable sites. It is better if two or three people shared the questions during the interview session. You need flexibility on some questions especially those that require probing into problems and opinions of respondents.

To be successful, you need to

Major Fields of interest in the neighborhoods:

• access to clean water,
Do you collect water from the tap? Yes no

Which are your sources of water then? Protected well? Spring? Swamp? Buy it from vendors?

• storage of water or sustainability of water resources

How do you store your water for use? Clay Pots? Jerricanes? Pails?
Basins? Source pans? Or other? (Specify)



• How much water do you use per day on average at home in terms of litters?

0ne 20-litre jerricane? …of jerricanes ? …water tank?

• If you buy water, how much do you pay for a 20 litre jerrican?

• How far is your nearest public water source from your home?

• Public convenient places: Do you have water supply installed in your house/homestead?


• How much do you pay for the water?
Monthly… ? quarterly…? yearly…?

Who goes to collect water for you?..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



Economic levels & Bio-data:
• Name…………..Age…………Sex……….Tribe…………..contact address/e-mail/place of residence
• How many children...Boys...Girls...Other…

• How many go to schools?...How many do not attend schools?... why do they not attend school...?

• Employment

Are you employed? Yes… no…
What do you do at work…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….


Where do you work? ………………………………..How far is it from here(km)?……………

Community problems:

Could you tell us the challenges you face with accessing water?.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................what do you think the challenges you have said can be solved?...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
When you are done:

Give a word of thank you and a token if any.

Site 2: Our Gayaza High School campus:

Date: 20th-23rd July:

The school campus is a heavy user of water in the school Kitchen, in the dormitories for bathing, laundry purposes, and various clean-ups. Since the school uses water closets toilets, a lot of water is used. Another area where it used is at the school farm. Watch water use at the swimming pool, in the bathrooms and at building sites in the school.

Water use behaviors can easily be spotted at any time but the best time is in the morning. Therefore successful snaps can only be taken with the help of flash on your camera.

The main idea is to get as much detail of water etiquettes by school campus residence.

It is advisable that you request for permission to take a picture of someone by first asking for her or his consent.

Activities:

Briefing and division of roles
Training on how to take pictures and how to interview people
Facilitators:
(1) Photography skill orientation: Mr.S. Asea, Head of Geography Department
(2) Interview skill orientation: Mr. Ngerageze Emmanuel project director
• 12:00 midday-1:30 pm piloting equipment/ data collection trial exercise was done by all the groups and
• 7:20 pm-7:45 pm: meet for review and planning
• Outcomes:
(i) group reports
(ii) photo viewing and
(iii) take note of problems and
(iv) corrective measures
(v) planning the next work

The Climate Change Challenge

Climate change refers to the shift in global temperatures and precipitation overtime. It is a long term alteration in the weather patterns especially temperature and storm activity. In other words it is the man made or natural shift in average atmospheric conditions overtime.

The basic cause is the human activities that emit green house gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere that then lead to global warming. The common GHGs include carbon dioxide (CO2), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Methane (CH4), HydroFluoroCarbons (HCFs), Perfluorocarbons (PCFs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and Halons.

According to research, the last decade of the 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st Century have been the warmest period in the entire global instrumental temperature record, starting in the mid-19th Century. Assessment reports conclude that this increase in the globally averaged temperature is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic green house gas concentrations.

Man’s environmentally unfriendly activities that may lead to climate change include deforestation, bush burning, burning of fossil fuels, wetland destruction, industrial activity, mining/quarrying, paddy rice growing etc.
The impacts are drought and high temperatures on one hand with consequences such as shrinking of ice caps/glaciers, crop failure and death of livestock leading to famine and malnutrition, water shortage, reduction in biodiversity, lowering of water levels, encroachment on wetlands etc. On the other hand there have been increased heavy rains and floods leading to crop failure, landslides, displacement of people, pollution of water sources, destruction of infrastructure, spread of diseases, loss of lives etc.

There is therefore urgent need to address the challenge of climate change.
• What can be done to reduce on GHG emissions?
• How can we adjust the natural or human systems so as to cope with the impacts of climate change?
• How can learners/students or the youth be guided to tackle climate change?
• How can the community be influenced to effectively address the problem?
• Must climate change be incorporated in development plans or budgets?
• Should climate change be integrated in the curriculum? If so, how? What subjects can be used to effectively address the issue?
• How can scientific and technological research help in tackling climate change?
• Are most of the members in your community aware of this danger?
• Have the local authorities or community leaders in your area done something to combat climate change?

What do you say?

Solomon Asea (Mr.)
Gayaza High School
Tel: +256 772 447 802/ +256 701 447804

Tackling Climate change

Tackling climate change: starting with mathematics from classroom:

I am a teacher of geography and mathematics. climate change is a monster.Here in Uganda very few people understand meaning and implications of climate change to their everyday lives. It is not only children but also the old. Therefore I strongly believe that while we do actions to alleviate climate change with the old, the youth or who ever, we should carefully integrate it in the school curriculum as we do actions so that the learners grow with knowledge and awareness, not only about the issue of climate change but also be able to carry it on and in future. They are energetic enough to cause change. They can influence their parents. They therefore will be able to influence policy decisions in their countries.

I am suggesting that we involve mathematics in matters of climate change. Later I will propose an exhibition format that mathematics learners and geography students can do to demystify what is "green house effect" to local leaders and members of the surrounding communities. I call upon your views upon this journey.
Ngerageze Emmanuel.
Gayaza High School Uganda
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+256(0)772466867