We spent a little less than 24 hours in Ibanda, the town in western Uganda where Tommy was living. We arrived at our hotel later in the evening, around eight, and spent the entire night in our room. We were exhausted from a very emotional and difficult court appearance that morning, rushing around to pack and leave Kampala with enough time to get to Ibanda before the bandits came out, and stopping in Mbarara to gather documents to take back to the Judge. In Mbarara we saw the hospital where Tommy spent his first three days of life, and had a quick dinner at a little bakery before getting back in the car for another hour.
The next day in Ibanda we ate breakfast with a man who turned out to be the Mayor, we went to the regional court to meet Tommy's probation officer, and walked around the town while we waited for Sister to get a special seal from a regional judge. Ibanda only recently became a separate district, and the town of Ibanda its center. The money that must eventually attend that sort of honor has not reached the people there. The town is small. The people are generally very poor.
Although a Mzungu in Uganda is always a sight to see, we were even more of an anomaly in Ibanda. People stared. Some laughed. Many pointed. Some engaged us in conversation, but not many. We must have looked so strange, so white, and so very rich, as we drove around in a car with air conditioning, swigging bottles of clean water, obviously well-fed and usually munching on some snack from the US. The widespread poverty in Uganda very rarely infringed upon our physical comfort, even in the poorest places we visited, although it frequently tugged at our hearts.
The people of Ibanda come from a traditionally poor tribe. They have less, and have had less, for generations.
God has been working to change this.
He has led a parish in Pennslyvania to partner with the parish in Ibanda to bring about change in this region. The non-profit for this organization, Building a Bridge to Uganda, supports the church, school, orphanage, and hospital. Volunteers visit multiple times a year to serve and to plan future projects.
One of the concerns brought up on their trip this summer was the desperate need for clean water in the region. The school, orphanage, and hospital all operate using dirty water. After seeing what dirty water and it's accompanying parasites do to someone after only 14 months of ingesting it, I am becoming increasingly passionate about the need for every person to have access to feces-free water. Tommy and many of the children at his orphanage are terribly sick because their water has poop in it. They have no other source of water, so the choice the nuns have is to give them dirty water, and watch them possibly waste away with parasites, or give them no water and watch them die of dehydration. It isn't much of a choice.
This past summer, it was determined that the school needed a well, and that both the orphanage and the hospital could be served by the same well, if they installed a good piping system. The cost of drilling wells so far from the city center is, of course, astronomical.
This week an amazing thing happened. Father Joseph, the head priest in Ibanda, visited a friend one evening, and while at his house met a man who specialized in fixing old wells. Father Joseph asked him if he would mind taking a look at an old well on school property that hadn't worked for a very long time. He inspected it and found a number of problems: rotted pipes, problems with the pump, and an unsteady base. However, the well was still good! The man was able to do the repairs for about $500. The well can now serve the primary and high schools, and the surrounding community. Over 900 people will have access to clean water because of $500 in repairs. They never should have been without clean water in the first place.
Now the focus is on the orphanage and hospital, where, unfortunately, a fresh well must be drilled. That is not a $500 project. It will probably cost at least $15,000.
Building a Bridge to Uganda is raising funds for this project.
Americans spend millions of dollars on bottled water each year because we believe it is fresher or better tasting than the tested, treated, and clean water that arrives in our homes via numerous faucets. We take our clean water for granted. We shouldn't.
Walking the streets of Ibanda, I can honestly say I thought very little about the drinking water of those around me. I had other problems, other worries-all adoption related- that absorbed my energy. God has opened my eyes to the plight of these people through the experience of caring for a child whose body has been damaged, perhaps irreversibly (although we hope not), by dirty water. The picture below is of the newly repaired well, and the students from the school in Ibanda.
+(1).JPG)
When was the last time you stood in line just to feel fresh water flow over your hands? Or just to see it?
The next day in Ibanda we ate breakfast with a man who turned out to be the Mayor, we went to the regional court to meet Tommy's probation officer, and walked around the town while we waited for Sister to get a special seal from a regional judge. Ibanda only recently became a separate district, and the town of Ibanda its center. The money that must eventually attend that sort of honor has not reached the people there. The town is small. The people are generally very poor.
Although a Mzungu in Uganda is always a sight to see, we were even more of an anomaly in Ibanda. People stared. Some laughed. Many pointed. Some engaged us in conversation, but not many. We must have looked so strange, so white, and so very rich, as we drove around in a car with air conditioning, swigging bottles of clean water, obviously well-fed and usually munching on some snack from the US. The widespread poverty in Uganda very rarely infringed upon our physical comfort, even in the poorest places we visited, although it frequently tugged at our hearts.
The people of Ibanda come from a traditionally poor tribe. They have less, and have had less, for generations.
God has been working to change this.
He has led a parish in Pennslyvania to partner with the parish in Ibanda to bring about change in this region. The non-profit for this organization, Building a Bridge to Uganda, supports the church, school, orphanage, and hospital. Volunteers visit multiple times a year to serve and to plan future projects.
One of the concerns brought up on their trip this summer was the desperate need for clean water in the region. The school, orphanage, and hospital all operate using dirty water. After seeing what dirty water and it's accompanying parasites do to someone after only 14 months of ingesting it, I am becoming increasingly passionate about the need for every person to have access to feces-free water. Tommy and many of the children at his orphanage are terribly sick because their water has poop in it. They have no other source of water, so the choice the nuns have is to give them dirty water, and watch them possibly waste away with parasites, or give them no water and watch them die of dehydration. It isn't much of a choice.
This past summer, it was determined that the school needed a well, and that both the orphanage and the hospital could be served by the same well, if they installed a good piping system. The cost of drilling wells so far from the city center is, of course, astronomical.
This week an amazing thing happened. Father Joseph, the head priest in Ibanda, visited a friend one evening, and while at his house met a man who specialized in fixing old wells. Father Joseph asked him if he would mind taking a look at an old well on school property that hadn't worked for a very long time. He inspected it and found a number of problems: rotted pipes, problems with the pump, and an unsteady base. However, the well was still good! The man was able to do the repairs for about $500. The well can now serve the primary and high schools, and the surrounding community. Over 900 people will have access to clean water because of $500 in repairs. They never should have been without clean water in the first place.
Now the focus is on the orphanage and hospital, where, unfortunately, a fresh well must be drilled. That is not a $500 project. It will probably cost at least $15,000.
Building a Bridge to Uganda is raising funds for this project.
Americans spend millions of dollars on bottled water each year because we believe it is fresher or better tasting than the tested, treated, and clean water that arrives in our homes via numerous faucets. We take our clean water for granted. We shouldn't.
Walking the streets of Ibanda, I can honestly say I thought very little about the drinking water of those around me. I had other problems, other worries-all adoption related- that absorbed my energy. God has opened my eyes to the plight of these people through the experience of caring for a child whose body has been damaged, perhaps irreversibly (although we hope not), by dirty water. The picture below is of the newly repaired well, and the students from the school in Ibanda.
+(1).JPG)
When was the last time you stood in line just to feel fresh water flow over your hands? Or just to see it?
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3 comments:
A friend of mine is a clean water fanatic - for Africa! She raised $10,000 in one day this last Friday.
So, here's her blog - www.jodyrlanders.com
It's inspirational for sure.
Amy - can I copy this to my blog?
And do you have a link to where people can go to donate towards the well?
Thanks!
Salem :)
Hullo, My name is Busingye Mathias Handy from Uganda, Ibanda. I want to thank you for the concern about our area and your kind heart of help.I am 25yrs old and was born and raised up in this small town. For anything you need to about the town dont hesitate to contact me.
Email: handymartines@yahoo.com
God Bless you.
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