Building a Borehole in Mubende

How and why we need your help

 

We are seeking your donation to help build and repair water wells in a poor and very remote rural community in Uganda. The new well will provide fresh water to 150 families (many of whom are now my extended family), who otherwise require their children to walk 1-2 hours a day in both directions, carrying heavy jerry-cans to collect. This is dangerous and very unsafe. Please help us achieve our fundraising goal of $7500 to bring compassion, help, and respite to these beautiful kids, their family, and the community. 

 

With love and thanks

Roxy and Joseph

- For transparency, these funds will be initially deposited into an Australian account prior to payment of the project. 

- Any excess donations will be directed towards distributing hamper packs to elderly members of Nabiggangga village. Joseph & I have a huge heart for the elderly. The elderly are highly vulnerable and often forgotten about in rural villages.

Here’s the background story

 

Nabiggangga village is located around 20 minutes from Mubende township within Mubende District, the Central Region of Uganda. Nabiggangga village is a mountainous region with large rolling hills and rare boulders. Its inhabitants are mostly farmers, who live off the land and farm maze, matoke, and beans.

 

Many live in small mud houses with thatched roofs, most homes are very small and on average there can be a family of 5-10 people living in a home. Nabiggangga village is Joseph’s ancestral village, the home where his father grew up. It is also where his family is buried and many of his cousins, aunties, and uncles still live. Nabiggangga holds a very special place in our hearts... it is our favorite place to visit.

 

The United Nations states that Uganda is in a “Water Crisis” and like many rural communities in Uganda, Nabiggangga is suffering from this crisis, the village has limited access to clean drinking water. Due to the mountainous landscape, boulders, and a lack of finances boreholes in the past have been improperly built & a number of boreholes in the community need to be fixed.

 

In Nabiggangga a high demand and poor management have led to springs and wells drying up. In Uganda, 19% of the Ugandan population relies on dirty drinking water… This means that over 8 million people are drinking from sources like streams, ponds, unprotected hand-dug wells, and more. Another 32% of the population has “limited” access, meaning the water is likely safe, but it takes over 30 minutes to retrieve it because of distance, overcrowding, or both.

 

Joseph’s family lives on a large piece of land with around 150 homes surrounding them. As the village is large there is no clean drinking water located in their area, there is a natural spring but they cannot depend on this for clean drinking water (though they have no other option and they do drink this water, leading to disease and sickness). To fetch clean drinking water, the people have to walk 1 to 2 hours…. (one-way). They have to walk up large hills… in the heat…carrying a large jerry can. For some children, the walk can take even longer than 2 hours.

 

Children are given the task, they wake at 6 am and will go to school immediately after, but the children are often late to school and struggle to concentrate in their classes. This daily burden means losing out on educational and work opportunities. The walk is so strenuous that some children even have health issues like back and neck problems due to the walk. The farmers have also resorted to irrigating their crops with untreated water from (dirty) wells which can lead to diseases. The community’s Village Chairman also worries for young girls and their safety as they walk alone. It is difficult to imagine having to walk so long every morning just to fetch drinking water for your family

 

Our Goal:

 

We need your help! We have partnered with local community leaders and are building a borehole, in an easily accessible location for the 150homes within Nabiggangga village that do not have easy access to a borehole. As well as a borehole, these funds will also go towards repairing 6 boreholes throughout the village.

 

In Uganda, 28 million people lack access to improved sanitation and 72% of the total population lives on less than $3.20 per day. Access to clean and purified water through a borehole is critical to the health of families within communities.

 

The United Nations states that:

 

“The country is experiencing a water crisis and everyone from the

national and local government to charities, the United Nations, and

communities themselves are working to solve it. As a result of these

efforts, Uganda has made progress”

 

We believe we can make an effort to see this progression within Nabiggangga village. Everyone has a right to access healthy, reliable, and safe drinking water and our goal is to make this available for the community of Nabiggangga.