Layik A Village: From Tadpole-Infested Water to Clean, Safe Water

For generations, the remote community of Layik A in Gulu District depended on a hand-dug waterhole known locally as Wang Oburu. The waterhole was very old and stretched back many generations. For the village it had always been their only source of water. The villagers of Layik A watched as other villages and schools in the area got new wells, but nobody came to them so they kept using the waterhole and hoping for something better. The waterhole had become a breeding ground for frogs—its water often clouded with eggs and tadpoles. Visitors were shocked. “Aunt, there are frog eggs and tadpoles in the water,” one boy told his aunt, Alworo Florence, returning home with empty jerrycans. “We were disgusted too,” Alworo admits, “but we had no other option.”

Families used that water for everything—cooking, bathing, washing, and drinking. Lanyero Betty, an elder, recalls taking a sip and feeling something move in her mouth before spitting out a tadpole. “I must have swallowed others,” she says. Even those who boiled water sometimes joked it felt like they were “cooking tadpoles.” Beyond the psychological toll, the health risks were real.

Everything changed after Drop in the Bucket came to the village and drilled the community a borehole. The well drilling was fairly straightforward and the team was able to hit water at 50 meters.

Commissioning the well at Layik A

On the day that the new well was commissioned, the entire village gathered to watch the new borehole being handed over to the community. The women and children broke into songs of relief: “We have been saved; we have eaten enough frogs; they have croaked in our stomachs for too long.” People lined up with containers to collect clean water—for the first time at home.
“We shall now stop disturbing the frogs in their habitat,” said Odoki Ronald, the Local Councilor for Layik A. “Thank you, Drop in the Bucket, for bringing us clean water.” Today, Layik A’s families drink safely, cook confidently, and live with dignity—free from the old well’s hazards.