 Namalemba Sub-county (and environs), covering the villages: Namalemba, Minani, Idinda, Nawamgisa, and Namunyumya is located in Iganga District on the Jinja Mbale Highway, Eastern Uganda. It has a total population of about 26,000, 52% of whom are women. It is a rural community, surviving mainly through subsistence agriculture.
The area faces several major challenges, among which the Rotary Club of Kampala North, working with the St Andrew's Church Development Committee, has identified health care and rain-water harvesting as priorities. The main objectives are therefore:
1. Providing primary health care as well as curative and maternity services for 26,000 people;
2. Providing easy access to water for the Health Unit and reducing time spent on collecting water for school going children (1,500 children in Namalemba Primary School.
The community of Namalemba Parish started on the construction of the health unit about fifteen years ago. This unit, with limited facilities and two nurses, has for the last ten years addressed the health, curative, and maternity needs of this community who would otherwise have to travel at least 16 km to the nearest hospital in Iganga or Nsinze. Even then, the majority find the public transport costs prohibitive, and would have to take a 2 - 3hr bicycle journey.
Two years ago, the community embarked on the construction of a three ward in-patient unit, supported by a Rotarian couple that originates from the area. This building, with an internal floor area of 220 square metres (plan attached) is now complete but requires the complete range of equipment and furnishing for a level 4 health unit. It also requires the installation of a septic tank and drainage system; ventilated-improved pit (VIP) latrines; rain-water harvesting; and solar power installation to address both power shortages and what would be a huge recurrent power cost (a unit of electricity in Uganda is over USD0.30, and the loading-shedding cycle also means there is no power every other day).
The Health Unit is based on the church and school premises that provide synergetic opportunity for rain-water harvesting. This has been included as a project component, recognising that easy access to portable water is an aide to primary and curative health care, and would also release the time of students and women to productive work.
Since some of the mediacl equipment has to be imported, completion fo the project, from time of release of funds, will be 8 months. All other elements will be completed within 6 months | 
