Day 3 - Mpigi

I realised that in my last post I forgot to quote some important facts. Since arriving here I have discovered that Uganda has only 63% Water Coverage, and 59% Sanitation. 30% of the population live on lesss than $1 a day, which is below the poverty line. Having heard those figures, and then seeing the effect for myself, I cannot believe that this is allowed to happen in the year 2008.
Yesterday we had an early start with breakfast at 6am. We left for Mpigi at 6.45 and upon arrival we were met by the Busoga Trust, one of the many partners which WaterAid works with here in Uganda. They took us to a village called Kayabwe to show us their Water Jar project. Such a simple solution to a huge problem, these massive concrete jars are installed at the side of peoples houses, and they have guttering set up to drain all the rain water into them (known as rainwater harvesting, similar to water butts at home). The family we met said this has made such a massive difference to their lives, they no longer have to walk to the river or swamp to collect water which the lady said was giving the kids Dysentry, Typhoid and Diarrohea. If that isn't awful enough, they also lived in fear of getting raped on the walk to collect water. Can you imagine that? There was also a really busy road they had to cross to get water, and a lot of children had died collecting water as they had been run over. 1 girl I met, called Amale Anette (see picture of girl in blue dress) told us she used to have to collect water after school and it was a 4 hour round trip at night. She was too tired to do her homework and too tired to concentrate at school, but now the water jar has been fitted she can be a child again. That really showed me the massive difference such a simple solution can make. Also it is worth mentioning that these jars are not just handed out, the families have to demonstrate a commitment by having a seperate washing area, a drying rack for pots and pans (as otherwise they are left on the floor which is unhygienic), and a latrine.
We left Kayabwe and crossed the equator which was pretty cool! We then moved on to see the household eco sans (latrines) in Lubembe. The family we met had recently had a latrine fitted which meant there was somewhere clean to go to the toilet and they could use their waste products (mainly urine) as a pesticide. It sounds a bit disgusting but when I thought about the amount of pesticides that go on our food, it didn't seem so bad. This man we met was so proud of the difference it has made to his life. His children are no longer ill, and because he can use urine to make a pesticide (he gave me the full recipe if anyone is interested!), he is able to grow banana's, carrots, watermelons, yams and tomatoes. he showed us his crops and it was amazing - he is the guy in the picture. He is now able to sell some of these so his children can go to school. He was so happy and so proud.
Next came the higlight of the day, we went to a school. The children were overjoyed to see us and were so grateful for the difference wateraid has made to their lives in drilling a borehole and fitting a pump so they now have clean water. They put on a play for us about sanitation which was really funny, but made the point clear about hygiene. they have a health club and the kids go home and tell their parents about hygiene as well. They also sang and danced for us, and had photo's taken. They were so lovely it really lifted the groups spirits. A lot of us used the latrines at the school, which were a lot cleaner than some in the UK!
We then missed lunch as we were running behind schedule, and went to see a water pump. The children there came running over to see us shouting 'Muzungu' which means 'white person', we hear that everywhere we go when we see children! They were collecting water from the pump and they can only have been 6 or 7. One of them was carrying a 20 litre container full of water on her head. It was incredible.
After that we had a long drive to meet the local government. It was a formal visit and they were telling us how much of a difference water aid and the Busoga Trust have made to Mpigi. One of the said "Water is Life - without water we cannot kick, now we are kicking because of you!" They were so full of gratitude and wanted to hear all about the fundraising we do in the UK. We are about to drive up to Masindi now, I will try and write again although the internet connection is not great here in Kampala the capital city! Thanks again for your support.