Northern Uganda

Our Water Program Director Becky Straw recently returned from Northern Uganda, where it all began for charity: water. In 2006, donors funded the first set of wells in a refugee camp that desperately needed clean water. Today, thanks to your continued help, we have 88 clean water projects serving over 58,000 people in Uganda. I hope Becky’s story touches you as it touched many people here in our office.  - Scott Harrison

Will the beautiful women of the world please stand up. Driving down a bumpy road in the middle of Northern Uganda, we’re kicking up dust as we head into the rural countryside. I was traveling with teams from two other non-profit organizations to evaluate the work of our shared local partner, Joy Drilling, who was drilling wells and training communities in sanitation and hygiene. Before piling in, I make a last minute decision to jump into the truck’s flatbed. The Ugandan drilling crew looks stunned that I’d do such a thing, but I didn’t care. I’m happy to suffer a little dust for the view.

I have a pretty incredible job. As charity: water’s Water Program Director, I travel to some of the most desperate places on earth in search of clean water. And while the landscape changes, there’s always one thing that remains the same: the women are always walking. Whether I’m trekking the mountains of Haiti, taking cover from a rainstorm in rural Liberia, or tramping through the jungles of Central African Republic, the women are always carrying water.

From my vantage point in the truck, I watch women gather up their children and move to the edge of the road to let us pass. Their feet are gnarled and calloused: a result of thousands of miles walked barefoot over rocks and mud. With babies strapped to their backs, their brightly colored skirts sway and their knees quiver and brace under the weight of water and children. Most balance pails on their heads, while some grip 80 pounds of water with sweaty palms, a bright yellow 5-gallon Jerry Can in each hand.

I’m in awe of how they manage. But of course, they have no choice. The average woman in Africa walks three miles every day for water. Often, it’s water from putrid rivers or disease-infested swamps. Worldwide, women are more than twice as likely as men to collect drinking water.

Without warning, our truck suddenly swerves off the road and up over an embankment. Dried corn stalks thump against the side of the truck as we plow through a field. My knuckles are white as I try to hold on and not bounce out.

Moments later, we find ourselves in a clearing and in the middle of a huge celebration. Esther, our photographer, pokes her head out the window, smiles, and yells back at me, “Looks like our mission’s been compromised!” I usually prefer to surprise communities by our arrival because it makes it easier to monitor how our water points are functioning without hundreds of people watching. But once you visit a few communities in the neighborhood, rumors of your presence spread like wildfire.

We jump out of the truck and walk into a party. The women meet us with exuberant cheering and dancing. Pure and loud joy rocks the village.

This is when I meet Helen Apio. While most women hung back politely, Helen jumps toward me and screams two inches from my face. Technically, it’s singing. But the high-pitched shrieking is so loud and reverberates with such energy and emotion, I know I have to talk with her.

She tells me about the new freshwater well in her village. “I am happy now,” Helen beams. “I have time to eat, my children can go to school. And I can even work in my garden, take a shower and then come back for more water if I want! I am bathing so well.”

A few of the men chuckle to hear a woman talk about bathing. But all I notice is Helen’s glowing face, the fresh flowers in her hair, and the lovely green dress she wore for special occasions. Touching her forearm, I reply, “Well, you look great.” “Yes,” she pauses. Placing both hands on my shoulders and smiling, she said, “Now, I am beautiful.”

That really hits me. My job is to focus on sustainable development, health, hygiene and sanitation; to make sure charity: water’s projects are working in 20 years. But nowhere on any of my surveys or evaluations is a place to write, “Today we made someone feel beautiful.”

How Helen became beautiful is the real story. Before she had clean water, she would wake up before dawn, take her only two 5-gallon Jerry Cans and walk almost a mile and a half to the nearest water point, which happened to be at a school. Because there simply wasn’t enough water for the area’s population, she’d wait in line with hundreds of other women who also valued clean water. Helen’s only other option was to skip the wait and collect contaminated water from a pond.

Helen spent most of her day walking and waiting. She tells me each day she’d say to herself, “How should I use this water today? Should I water my garden so we can grow food? Should I wash my children’s uniforms? Should I use it to cook a meal? Should we drink this water?” With two children, one husband and 10 gallons, Helen had to make choices.

I see the shame in her eyes when she describes how she would return from her long trek to find her two young children waiting for her. They were often sent home from school because their uniforms were dirty. Helen just never had enough water.

I see now why she is so eager to scream out her joy and gratitude. She wants me to understand that this gift from charity: water was real. With the new well in her village, her life is transformed. She now has choices. Free time. Options. Also, Helen has been chosen to be the Water Committee Treasurer, collecting nominal fees from 51 households to use for the maintenance of their well. Water Committees are often the first time women are ever elected to leadership positions in villages.

Last month, Helen was standing in line waiting for water.
This month, she’s standing up for her community. And now, she is beautiful.

- Becky Straw
photos by: Esther Havens

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MAI NEBRI, ETHIOPIA

Mai Nebri, Ethiopia. April 11, 1:30 P.M.

It started with a 140-character tweet on January 8. And a few hours ago, in a remote Ethiopian village, hundreds cheered as clean water shot from the ground. The sight was a familiar one for us, but this well was special. Here’s why.

On February 12, people from 202 cities around the world came together for charity: water using a micro-blogging tool called Twitter. The global event was called Twestival, and was organized in less than four weeks completely by volunteers.

More than 10,000 individual donors contributed just shy of $250,000 - enough for 50 villages and 12,500 people to get clean water. As always, 100% of the money will fund water projects. Overwhelmed by the generosity and passion of the Twitter community, we couldn’t wait to show their impact in real-time and answer the question, “What can this money really do?” So today, with lead Twestival organizer Amanda Rose and the help of satellite partner Evosat, we shot, edited, and posted the first of four daily videos from Northern Tigray, Ethiopia.

Mai Nebri has a heartbreaking story, but today it’s being rewritten. “Welcome to this remote and forgotten place,” proclaimed the 34-year-old village chairman, Guerish. “You have sacrificed a lot to come to this very remote area.” While we had traveled far to visit this community, our long journey seemed trivial compared to the challenges the 500 people here face every day.

Like so many in this harsh region, Mai Nebri’s women and children walk more than 5 hours every day for unsafe water. Some of the women had deformed backbones from carrying 40 pounds of water. A hyena attack recently claimed the life of a child on her way to the water hole at 4 a.m., and waterborne diseases like bilharzia and diarrhea are common. Many of the girls here don’t get a chance to attend school and instead have to fetch water.

Seven-foot tall Nato Mohammed, who village elders told us was the 2nd tallest man in the nation, said softly, “Without water, there is no life.” With the drill rig and support trucks only a few feet behind him, he spoke with a smile, “You have brought life into this community.”

Watch today’s video here, and join us over the next three days as we post daily videos from Ethiopia. We’ll be back in Mai Nebri on Tuesday the 14th to see the pump installed, and share with you the celebration of new life and opportunity for our new friends here.

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charity: water’s work in
Ethiopia would be impossible without our local partner, A Glimmer of Hope Foundation. Through this partnership, charity: water has funded more than 300 water projects in four regions of Ethiopia and provided more than 120,000 people wth clean and safe drinking water. Learn more about Glimmer here.

Follow charity: water on Twitter: @charitywater

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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

A Story by Esther Havens, Nicky Yates and Becky Straw.

“We saw you fly in,” the villagers told us, pointing to the sky. We’d arrived in Central African Republic (a.k.a. CAR). Since there’s only one flight in and out of the country per week, we knew they meant it. CAR is one of the poorest countries in the world, landlocked in the dead center of Africa.

Traveling 12 hours deep into a lush rainforest on narrow dirt roads, we bumped up and down violently in an SUV to a region that’s home

to the African elephant, silverback gorilla, black mamba snake and also a forgotten people – the Bayaka Pygmies. The Bayakas are considered outcasts of society because they live in the jungle, often being viewed by others as “animals” of the rainforest.

Pulling up to a village known as “The End of the World” because it’s literally where all roads end, we saw mothers feeding their babies next to small domed huts. Children played with wooden toys and practiced throwing spears. The tallest of the Bayaka Pygmies stood only about five feet tall, and almost all had unique facial markings, scars and sharpened teeth, which represent beauty to them. When we asked them “What is your age?” or “Ngu tti mo ayeke ok,” in the local language Sambo, the Pygmies couldn’t answer. Most had no idea how old they were. We found quickly that the more appropriate question was “How many children do you have,” which they were proud to answer. A typical mother here had about 8 children, and saw 4 of them die prematurely from water-borne disease or malnutrition.

We were greeted with huge excitement, and two of the young girls, Jasmine and Carol, led us on a 15-minute walk down rocky paths to the polluted springs where they formerly collected water. We winced as they walked into the water and took a drink, eagerly showing us what it used to be like here. They both suffered frequent stomach pains from drinking it but had no choice. We also met Bertin and Goze, two 10-year-old boys who barely had any toes left.

They suffered from a common disease that affects the majority of Pygmy communities – “jiggers” or parasitic fleas that bury in the skin, lay eggs, and eventually eat away at the skin. They are eliminated simply by washing the feet with clean water. But clean water hadn’t ever existed here before.

The girls next led us eagerly to see a charity: water well that was recently completed here at the “The End of the World.” We couldn’t wait to see the crystal clear water streaming out of the new pump. A few minutes later, we watched as the village kids gathered around and pressed the well’s foot-pump up and down, making a game of pumping water. Clean water was now available for the whole village, including the new school where Jasmine and Carol will have the rare opportunity to get an education.

Since gaining its independence from France in the 1960’s, four civil wars have ravaged the country, and small groups of rebels still live in “the bush,” pillaging villages and harboring war criminals from neighboring countries. Unemployment (at 90%) and disease rates are among the highest in Africa.

Yet amidst the turmoil, clean water now flows to “The End of the World” and other Bayaka and Central African villages due to the generosity of charity: water donors and men like Jim Hocking, who heads up local partner outfit Integrated Community Development International (ICDI) with a passion and love for CAR. Through 80 Central African staff members, ICDI delivers water, sanitation, microfinance, orphan care, and agricultural services to CAR.

For the past two years, charity: water has worked through a partnership with Living Water International and ICDI to fund 178 water projects, bringing clean water to over 200,000 people here. charity: water has been able to give 1 out of every 19 people in Central African Republic access to life’s most basic need.

Though Jim Hocking has been evacuated three times, held up by rebels twice, suffered malaria, typhoid, rabies and skin cancer, he is intent on continuing to develop and equip national staff so ICDI can continue to work through periods of social unrest, even if he has to flee the country. When it might be unsafe for us to travel,” Jim says, “My team can.”

Though this past year has brought various challenges to our own country in the form of mortgage woes, economic instability, and rising employment rates, we learned a lot from this unassuming man with a quick wit, contagious smile and unswerving devotion. We learned to keep going, to keep serving, even when the road is rough. Literally.

One day, it took 18 hours to see two water projects because the “roads” through the jungle were so terrible that they ripped two of our “ultra-durable tires” and overheated our radiator. With each setback, Jim would merely stop the car; lift his thermos, and joke, “All right, I think it’s a sign we need another coffee break.”

Despite rampant insecurity, we found gradual change happening in CAR. We found people working in harsh, uncertain conditions to improve lives in their communities and country. We found out how our wells made villages healthier, allowed children to go to school for the first time and helped gardens to flourish. We found forgotten yet proud families. We found hope.

For our team at charity: water, helping 1 out of every 19 people feels like a good start in a forgotten country of 3.8 million. But like Jim, we’ve set our sights on the other 18 and won’t stop until everyone here has access to clean and safe drinking water.

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