Kasaka, UG – Rainwater collection provides irrigation of Kasaka Secondary School Agriculture Club vegetable garden – Aug 2025

Now the club has two standpipes in their vegetable growing area. This month, with support from Better Lives and Wamukisa, the Agriculture Club members partnered with the KSS plumber to construct a water line from an unused 10,000 liter concrete water tank KSS provided to the gardeners. With new gutters attached to the eves of the school library block, downpipes into the tank harvest rainwater from the roof. Students used hoes, shovels, and a willingness to work hard to make future work easy, constructing a trench downslope from the tank to the garden growing area. A buried pipe in the trench now connects the tank to the lower-level standpipe.

Students are now enjoying vegetable growing without the chore of hauling water buckets down and up the slope. They will be able to grow a wider variety of water-thirsty vegetables. Head Teacher Kiiza Eseri Grace noticed, “With vegetables added to their diet every day, I can see more healthy students in my school.” The school provided a hose to make directing water from standpipe to vegetable beds easier and enjoyable. The agriculture club which operates the garden is going to produce more vegetables for the school members to eat, also for sale. KSS has promised to provide the club seedlings so that it can start an orchard next to an expanded vegetable growing area.

Club members dream of the next small step to Growing their Own Breakfast by extending the water line into adjacent land. Watering and growing crops there, selling specialty food from an orchard and buying staples, will enable them to add still more nutrients for the KSS students to eat.