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Completed: November 2022 Serves: 245 people Some of Shitirira Community’s 245 people live an hour’s walk from John Murumba Spring, which is their only option for water. This is because John Murumba Spring is the only water point in the area that continues flowing through the dry season. With multiple trips’ worth of water needed each day, community members can waste an inordinate amount of time just getting the water they need to drink and accomplish daily tasks like cooking and cleaning. “In my own family, my husband has been taking medicine for typhoid [for] almost one year now without recovering,” said Elizabeth J., 46, a local businesswoman. “He is not recovering. We are using a lot of money on medication.” In this community, Elizabeth’s story isn’t unique. Nearly every community member who was spoken with mentioned being unable to afford the high costs of medication.      Completed: November 2022 Serves: 200 people The lines to fetch water at Benson Lumbasi Spring get so long that sometimes people give up and go home. But water is essential for cooking, cleaning, and farming, not to mention drinking and staying alive. With all the time wasted in line, one would hope the water from the spring would at least be of good quality. Instead, it infects community members — especially children and the elderly — with sometimes-deadly infections like cholera and typhoid.      Completed: August 2022 Serves: Community of over 350 families, plus a school with an enrollment of over 600 students from the surrounding communities Heartbreaking stories from this community shine a light on the dangers faced when collecting water. During dry seasons, children were forced to walk some three miles in order to gather water from the finger-like swamps of Lake Victoria. Ten children from this community were kidnapped and killed in satanic sacrifices. In addition, girls have been raped and children have drowned while collecting water. You can imagine the relief and gratitude the people in Kiruddu now have for having a clean water source within the safety of their community. “This borehole ... is within the school itself and in the middle of the village and not in the valley where bad people can easily harm our children and nobody sees them. You have helped us to solve most of those problems. Thank you very much. I will not get tired of sending you to convey our sincere thanks to our donors for doing this for us – for providing us with clean and safe water. Tell them again that we, the people of Kiruddu, are so thankful and very happy indeed." – Kiruddu Chairman Patrick Kayiza   Completed: August 2022 Serves: Community of about 950 people, plus a school with an enrollment of 563 students from the surrounding communities In her speech at the handing-over ceremony, the head teacher, Irene Nalubega, said the children had wasted a lot of time having to wait for the cattle keepers to water their animals before they could draw water for the school and their homes. She also said there was a high risk of children drowning when fetching water from these deep dug ponds. A child was lost in such an accident last year. “The people of Katega village, including these school children, we have been sharing the dirty pond waters together with cows, goats, stray dogs, and snakes! Thus, with this clean and safe water in our midst, this makes me extremely, extremely, very happy.” – Paul Yiga, Katega village chairperson, at the handing-over ceremony    Sister Salome at the handing-over ceremony
Completed: August 2022 Serves: 350 people “I have used this water source for more than 40 years . . . Sometimes, when [I] am thirsty, when I see the water and imagine the source, the thirst goes away. Now that my grandchildren are suffering because of waterborne diseases, it will be my joy that they access clean and safe water in [the] future.” —Ayub Mwaka     Completed: December 2021 Serves: Community of about 2,200 people, plus a school with an enrollment of more than 1,000 students from the surrounding communities   People used to travel long distances to fetch water from this dirty pond which they shared with animals. Thank you presentation by students of St. Joseph Kibalinga Primary School
Completed: November 2021 Serves a community of about 2,500 people, plus a school with an enrollment of 867 students from the surrounding communities “Mere words cannot express the joy and happiness we feel deep down within our hearts. For we have been suffering a lot from using dirty water since my childhood, not knowing that one day, God will send us generous and kind people who will save this community from drinking dirty muddy water to clean water. Thank you very, very much.” – Kafundeezi government representative   Students perform a song in which they thank the St. Thérèse Foundation for the borehole (well), which provides clean water for drinking, cooking, washing, bathing, and other activities.
Completed: October 2021 Serves: 245 people Before its protection, goats, dogs, livestock, and snakes would enter the spring, drinking directly from it and leaving their waste.  Completed: September 2021 Serves: 2,000 people “Apart from saving our children, especially those attending Kanonko Parents Primary School, and women from the long walk of 4.5 kilometers looking for water, you have also saved the entire community and the neighboring villages to use clean and safe water. So, in addition to reducing the distance for the people of Kanonko village, you have also improved our bodily wellbeing, for water is life . . . We as Kanonko community are so blessed to have this borehole within our midst." – Excerpt from village chairperson's speech at borehole dedication ceremony  Children collecting water from previous water source
Completed: June 2021 Serves: 420 people “This is a great chance and change in this community of ours. We have been facing difficult moments, especially when we are in school. Most of us come from poor backgrounds leading to absenteeism and poor performance as children spend most of their time looking for water and becoming sick due to the unsafe water we take.” – Elizabeth, primary school student  Elizabeth
Completed: February 2021 Serves: 350 people “The process of drawing water is difficult. The spring is open, frogs keep on jumping inside, and you can easily draw water with frogs in it.” – Belinda, a local teenager The dedication ceremony was described this way: “The community members sang songs of praise and did dances to glorify God for enabling them to have their spring protected. Happiness, thanksgiving, and appreciation were the order of the day.”  Completed: December 2020 Serves: 400 people Despite its poor water quality, Busuku Spring was one of the most reliable year-round water sources in the area, so there was little choice in using its water. Lines developed at the spring every day as people had to wait for the mud in the water to settle between their turns. Crowded conditions often led to conflict. “My dream has finally come true and we shall now have clean water.” – Rose Shangu “I am so happy that I will no longer fear slipping and falling at the spring, especially during the rainy season.” – Jacklyne, primary school student   Completed: September 2020 Serves: 210 people “We shall not waste our precious time as in the past. Very little time will be taken to draw clean water, and that will allow us to have time to do our [homework] revisions. With this protected spring, we are assured of good health." – Ben, a teenager in the community Completed: September 2020 Serves: 140 people “I and my family will take clean, safe water, which will mean we will not suffer from water-related diseases. We will save money that we normally spend in the hospital when looking for treatment. The money will be used to better our lives." – Charity Ingosi, a 21-year-old farmer in the community    Completed: November 2019 Serves: 420 people Mothers used to worry about their children’s safety when they collected water. Now, community members can’t believe drawing water from the protected spring is so quick and easy. In the video below, members of the community express their gratitude and joy. In the second song, they sing that they are standing strong and nobody can threaten them since they now have a voice: “The safe water is here with us.”   Completed: September 2019 Serves: 210 people Drinking water from this unprotected spring claimed the lives of many community members due to outbreaks of typhoid, diarrhea, and bilharzia. “The little money we get mostly goes to the hospital to treat our loved ones. If this spring is protected, all this menace will be curbed and our community will heal." — Mr. Mambili   Completed: February 2019 Serves: 210 people “We shall see no more disgusting, dirty water which was full of tadpoles and some frogs. We as a community had suffered a lot because of the dirty water which was there before. No one since I was born has ever taken an initiative to help us protect this spring. I am glad we as a community are going to get access to safe drinking water, and I believe there will be minimal reports about waterborne diseases because of the help you people have done to us.” — Mr. Soita   Date completed: 2/2019 Number served: 214 people “You have really done a great job for this community. I do not have anything to give you that would be equal to the change that you have brought to us.” — Mrs. Atuka   Date completed: 11/2018 Number served: 280 “You are God-sent angels. Many have had false promises of protecting this spring and all have been in vain. We really thank God who brought you here, for we are really saved. The joy we have for clean water is like that of a mother for having the safe delivery of her first baby. We promise to take good care of this so as it can serve us and even our great-grandchildren.” — Margaret Musioma    Completion date: 10/2018 Number served: 455 This community believed witchcraft was the source of their health complications. In addition to protecting the spring, the community members were taught how germs are actually spread and what people can do to protect themselves and others. “Many are the times when almost everyone in the community was sick [with] either typhoid or diarrhea, forcing them to use most of the resources around to cater for medication.” — Erick, a farmer  The water source before the spring was protected   Completion date: 10/2018 Number served: 140 people “Most people in this community have suffered from waterborne diseases. Looking at the standard of living, we are not even able to meet the required money for treatment. Instead, people use alcohol to treat typhoid which is risky for their life." - Rose Mastiza “I will personally champion for the protection of Mukabane Spring . . . I am disabled due to polio and my people can also lose their lives due to outbreaks resulting from drinking dirty and contaminated water.” - Pauline, a young girl from the community. Implementing this project was of great impact in this community and particularly in the life of Pauline.    Pauline
Completion date: 10/2018 Number served: 322 “I’m truly witnessing a miracle. We have been having safe water shortage[s] for decades . . . We are now happy and settled in our minds knowing that water is the least of our problems.” — Gladys Tembo.  This stick floor is typical of the unsanitary, unsafe floors used in most latrines. Since people have been known to fall through these surfaces, many people choose to relieve themselves in the bushes instead.  Each spring protection project includes five concrete sanitation platforms, like this one, for latrine floors.  |
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