Water - The Most Essential Necessity
This was our very first project in the winter of 2020.
Kyojjomanyi Village is in what is called a "dry corridor." They do have seasonal rains, but water is not dependable.
​
Image: Google Earth
When young Peter, the seminarian at Saints Faith, Hope and Charity Church told me that the women and children of his home village had to walk for at least 30 minutes in each direction to get water and carry the jerry cans back to the school, it was just too much to imagine!
Drinking pond water that was filtered and then boiled for a minimum of ten minutes was simply what they had to do.
The government of Uganda had just recently brought water to the village, but not to the school two kilometers away.
We made that happen!
You can see the satisfied smiles of the kids with the first water.
BUT, though this comes from government reservoirs, it still needs to be boiled. Saint Maria Gorretti School also has now a roof collection system in place and several large tanks to hold the water.
We still have a serious problem. When the government reservoirs run dry, no water is pumped. SMG relies on what is in the reserve tanks. When that is gone, they have had to buy truckloads of water to re-fill the tanks. Or go back to the pond. 600 children need a lot of water, even when being scrupulously careful.
600 children need a lot of water, even when being scrupulously careful.
T.H.R.I.V.E. Foundation has partnered with Wells of Life in Africa and on Sept. 18th, a borehole was sunk to nearly 300 feet where they found water! Water is a blessing!
We still must dig trenches to install the distribution system and faucets around the campus. Potable water and then agricultural water. Next, we hope to see how to improve agriculture with run-off water. So much to look forward to!