Originally, we were supposed to have met the members of the local women's group and talked to them about the possibilities of improving their little community especially in management waste, water conservation and improvement of the financial situation in the community..

Fortunately, we still managed to do something in the village. We walked through it and noted the grave problem of polyethene litter which is greatly threatening the soil drainage, aeration and fertility. It also threatens human and animal health. Cows, pigs and goats can accidentally eat the polyethene and die. Polyethene too, encourages water stagnation which encourages breeding of mosquitoes. Ofcourse, as an agricultural community, soil erosion poses a great danger to their livelihood..

On a positive note though, the community seems to have a basic knowledge of how to utilise other vegetative waste like banana and sugarcane peels which are fed to their livestock and cut grass is used to mulch the gardens. .

From walking through the village, it was evident that the inhabitants are not averse to development so we know that they will be receptive to our help and advice..

We then went down to the protected spring, but from the situation of the latrines (on a hill yet the water source is in the adjacent valley) one wonders just how "protected" it really is. It is highly likely the water from the latrines seeps into the very same water table that supplies the protected spring!.

A lot of swamp reclamation is going on and it is bound to reduce the amount of water from the spring as the crops absorb much more water than the papyrus and reeds which are native to the swamp. The canals which have been constructed to drain water from the gardens encourage evaporation and divert the water from its shed. Ofcourse stripping the ground of its vegetative cover affects both the rate of evaporation and the soil structure. At this rate, if something is not done soon this could lead to an environmental disaster..

There is another problem; eucalyptus trees! Those carrying out re-afforestation have rightly advised all those who cut down one tree to plant two others and rightly encouraged them to replace them with eucalyptus which grows fast. However, they have not told them that this is not strictly true in swamps and other wetlands. There is already one eucalyptus tree right in the center of the reclaimed swamp in Kigalamizi in one of the many little garden plots (about 80 metres from the protected spring). When we expressed our concern over the presence of the eucalyptus tree, one of the village peasants,David, said they had been told by local officials to plant two eucalyptus trees in replacement of any tree they cut down and seemed to disbelieve what we were telling him about the danger this could pose to the swamp..

In addition to this, the swamp is the only source of fertile land on which to grow their food so the villagers can hardly be convinced not to reclaim it. David said "munno mwenfunira akamere" which means "This is where I get my food." Also, they see plenty of water right now and can't understand anyone being afraid of its depletion..

At the protected spring , we used hoes to remove some of the soil that blocked the water channel and hence let it flow freely. The soil was added evidence of the problem of soil erosion which is one of the potential dangers in the village . We took samples of the water and we are going to test it and find out if it is safe for human consumption. From the results of the subsequent tests we hope to be able to tell what is polluting the water and then go ahead to do something about the situation.