One of the beneficiaries of the project, Mr. George William Kabuye narrates his experiences thus: I am a resident of Nakyerongosa parish in Kakiri Sub-county. Nakyerongosa parish is one of the lucky parishes that were selected by COMASA and Wakiso district to be assisted in improving community livelihood. I was very glad to understand that COMASA was going to work with us to improve our general health.

Before COMASA''s intervention in my parish, the water and sanitation situation was very pathetic and it was unbelievable to see that Nakyerongosa community members were still surviving. In my parish, people did not understand the importance of using a safe latrine and open defecation was a very common practice especially on the road side.

We have very many local bars where men and a few women spend their leisure time but with no latrines and they all used to go to the nearby bushes to ease themselves. The smell was terrible and unbearable.

As a health educator, I would sympathise with the situation but it was out of my control. In my home I had a latrine but had to lock it up always because people could visit me purposely to use my latrine and it was getting filled up so fast that I could not manage and tolerate the situation.

However, this did not save the situation because the environment was not friendly at all and diarrhea was among the diseases that attacked the people in Nakyerongosa. I used to sensitise the people that occurrences of diarrhea in our parish was due to poor sanitation practices but they thought I was a proud man until I gave up.

But thanks to COMASA''s intervention because it was good timing. COMASA has a participatory way of involving people in understanding their problems and I believe that this was the turning point in my parish. Community members were sensitized about their pathetic situation and the consequences. It was amazing that even the very stubborn members were interested in listening to what COMASA officials had to say. Nakyerongosa community members accepted that their pathetic situation was their own making and agreed to make a change. They collectively participated in the demonstration training and duplicated the facilities in their homes.

To intensify change, COMASA selected and trained community monitoring members who were approved by all the community members and these were assigned the role of continuous promotion and monitoring of change in each household in the parish. Each monitoring member was assigned not more than 15 households and these competed at being the best.

You cannot believe the changes in Nakyerongosa parish. Before the changes, I was planning to shift to another area but now I am happy to associate with the village members. Very many households wash their hands before eating and after visiting their latrines. Many have put up temporary latrines as the construction of permanent latrines goes on in many homes. This has been my wish for so many years and I am glad that my wishes are coming true. Thanks to COMASA, it would not be possible if they had not convinced the community members.

COMASA has also trained us in PRA methods and the struggle still continues. Well done to COMASA for the participatory approaches that have created a miracle in my village.