In the early 2000s, the women of Katosi faced a daily crisis: the water hyacinth that had invaded Lake Victoria's shores was blocking access to what had once been the community's primary water source. Families were walking hours to find clean water. Children were falling sick. Women — who bear the primary responsibility for water collection in Uganda — were spending their most productive hours in exhausting, fruitless searches.
That crisis is what galvanized KWDT's Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme. Two decades later, that programme has become one of the most demonstrably impactful elements of KWDT's work.
Rainwater Harvesting: Women Building Their Own Solutions
One of KWDT's most celebrated innovations has been training women to construct their own rainwater harvesting tanks. What began as a practical response to water scarcity became a powerful symbol of women's capability in a community where gender norms had traditionally confined women to domestic roles.
Lydia Kateregga, one of the first women trained in tank construction, now earns over UGX 190,000 from each tank she constructs and builds three to four tanks a year. Her own household no longer walks hours in search of water.
"My children are safe from the sexual harassment that takes place when girls go to fetch water late in the evening. That alone is worth more than the money." — Lydia Kateregga, KWDT member
Biosand Filters: Transforming Contaminated Water at the Household Level
For communities where rainwater harvesting alone is insufficient, KWDT has deployed biosand water filters — low-cost, locally maintainable filters that remove pathogens from contaminated surface water. Women's groups are trained not just to use the filters but to manufacture and repair them, creating a local supply chain that does not depend on external suppliers.
Studies within KWDT communities have documented significant reductions in waterborne illnesses — particularly diarrhoea in children under five — in households using biosand filters consistently.
Sanitation and Hygiene: Changing Behaviour, Not Just Infrastructure
KWDT's WASH programme recognises that hardware alone does not change health outcomes. Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approaches are used to trigger collective behaviour change around open defecation, handwashing, and food hygiene. Women's group leaders are trained as community hygiene promoters, building the social infrastructure needed to sustain behaviour change.
Currently, 82% of Uganda's population lacks access to proper sanitation facilities. In KWDT communities, targeted interventions have helped reverse this trend — but much work remains, particularly on the islands of Kalangala and Buvuma where infrastructure challenges are most acute.
The Connection Between Water and Everything Else
KWDT's WASH programme has taught us that water is not a standalone issue. When women spend less time collecting water, they have more time for economic activities. When children are not sick with waterborne diseases, they attend school. When sanitation improves, women's dignity and safety improve. Water is, truly, the pulse of all other development goals.