Community members, including school-going boys pumping water as a mother looks on, at the first-ever borehole in Kaigulumba Village

Water is life yet not everyone has access to clean, safe water. In line with Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), In 2024-2025, Irene Tusiime, a final-year Bachelor of Rural Development student at African Rural University (ARU), engaged the community of Kaigulumba Village, Nalweyo Subcounty in Kakumiro District through participatory action research on water accessibility a topic identified by the community themselves.

Guided by ARU’s Visionary Approach and facilitated by Irene, community members came together to draw a shared vision for their village — a vision of having clean, safe water by the year 2026. With support from the local sub-county leadership, the community translated their aspirations into action.

Today, that vision has become a reality. Two new boreholes were constructed in Kaigulumba Village.

Before, people shared water sources with animals. Now, they enjoy clean, safe borehole water.

This is one of many examples of how ARU’s community engagement contributes to national development agenda and awakens people to bring to reality what they truly care about based on the following principles

The people of Uganda, like people the world over, are key to their own development. Lasting change can come only if people shift from reacting or adapting to events and circumstances to being the creators of events and circumstances. People who share a common vision can transcend traditional barriers and prejudices caused by tribal, religious, political, and gender differences, and work together to achieve that which is truly important to them all.

People have innate power and wisdom which they can tap to transform the quality of their lives and that of their communities. Training, education, and sharing of information are key and strategic components of rural transformation programs. The goal of this work is social, economic, and human transformation in rural Africa in general, and in Uganda in particular.

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