What is life like for you in Uganda?

In Uganda, we have over 50 tribes and over 56 languages, though the big 3 tribes cover 60% of the population. We have a population of 41 million people (as of 2016).

We eat fresh food almost all the time.  We have two rainy seasons, March-April and August-September, but the sun still shines during the rainy seasons. It is impossible for a week to pass by without a sunny day. Sometimes the sun shines and rains at the same time. So beautiful. We find Winter, Summer, Spring, etc. amazing! Snow for months!!! Those stories we hear from westerners or watch in the movies surprise us.

It’s normal for an educated Ugandan to work from 8AM to 7PM and they will never complain.  We leave work normally when work is done. A Ugandan, educated or not, will never worry about a foreigner, unless they do something immoral or illegal. We just generally don’t have any concern. If you are here and you behave yourself, you will be here, even without papers.

Almost all the water is fresh. From our lakes, rivers, streams, wells and ponds, all the water is fresh. Unfortunately though,  it is unsafe to drink. Whether from the tap, spring, lakes, rivers, wells and ponds. None of the water is safe to drink at all.  We have to boil it first.

Can you describe the water crisis in your community and the impact it is having?

Uganda faces huge challenges with multiple issues that adversely affect public health. One major challenge is the ability for both rural and urban Africans to access a clean water supply.

Once a source of water has been provided, quantity of water is often given more attention than quality of water.  There are limited sources of water available to provide clean drinking water to the entire community of Uganda.

The implications of lack of clean water and access to adequate sanitation are widespread. Young children die from dehydration and malnutrition, results of suffering from diarrheal illnesses that could be prevented by clean water and good hygiene. Diseases such as cholera are spread rampantly during the wet season. Women and young girls, who are the major role-players in accessing and carrying water, are prevented from doing income-generating work or attending school, as the majority of their day is often spent walking miles for their daily water needs. They are also at an increased risk for violence since they travel such great distances from their villages on a daily basis or wait in line to get a chance of drawing water from the pond or well, and are even at risk when they must go to the edge of the village to find a private place to relieve themselves.

Urban areas face a whole different host of challenges to providing clean water and sanitation. Rapid growth of urban areas, especially in upcountry, has led to large volumes of water being extracted from existing sources. Overcrowding in urban slums makes it even more difficult to control sanitation issues and disease outbreaks associated with exposure to raw sewage.

How can ATTA and our donors help to be a part of the solution to the water crisis there?

The solution can be found by our community receiving water filters from ATTA which are long-lasting, fast, easy, and the most cost efficient way to get pure potable clean and safe water to people in need. Our community and those beyond our community would benefit from more of these filters and I hope the following will be reached:

Women, girls, children will no longer walk long distances in search of clean and safe water to drink and will not have to endanger their safety or take valuable time from their ability to work or become educated.

What do the people say to you when they receive the ATTA filter systems to provide clean water?

1. Whoever receives the filter, gives thanks to God and when they are with the group, they dance for us as an appreciation.

2. They assure us that they are going to use the water filters to get enough water to drink for their families.

3. They always ask us kindly to get more filters to reach the other big group in the community which have yet received them and not benefited.

4. Families who received water filters have shared filtered water with their neighbors, which is very good, but would be better if the neighbors would get or receive their own water filtration system.