A household member receiving rewards

At least 10 households in Kiyombya Sub County, Bunyangabu District, have been rewarded for topping others in a campaign aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene.

The reward ceremony was held today July 2 at Nyamiseke Trading Centre in Kiyombya Sub County. These best performers received jerry cans, plastic tanks, bars of soap and basins.

Sarah Kobusingye who spearheaded the campaign said the households had been fast at practicing what they had been taught under campaign. The campaign involved moving from house to house and assessing the surrounding and encouraging the occupants to put up proper sanitation structures like pit latrines and ensuring hygiene among others.

 Mr Nathan Mugabe, Water officer, Bunyangabu District 

She noted that before the campaign, villages in Kiyombya, especially those in Nyakatonzi and Nyamiseke parishes, ranked poorly in human waste disposal and general sanitation and hygiene. However, since October last year, she said that VHTs have been moving from village to another and engaging household members to ensure cleanliness.

“Some homes didn’t have pit latrines and we encouraged them to have. Others were sharing the pit latrines which is also unacceptable. All this has since changed. We hope that these best performers will be used as a reference points to help others also improve on sanitation and hygiene in their homes,” Kobusingye said.

Mr Nathan Mugabe, the District Water Officer, noted that the campaign was funded under the Bunyangabu District Hygiene and Sanitation Conditional Grant, and will now be taken to Buheesi Sub County.

He also appreciated the work that has been done by VHTs, local leaders of Kiyombya and development partners like Joint Effort to Save the Environment (JESE) and IRC and encouraged continuity of the same.

Hon Amon Rutenta, the Secretary for Works and Production, who represented the district LCV chairperson, thanked Kiyombya residents for being receptive to the campaign. He, however, noted that there were homesteads which were still lagging behind. He encouraged them to quickly adopt the sanitation and hygiene practices before they could face the long arm of the law.