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Not long ago, Emily was having a conversation with our good friend and co-worker Ida Bazonoona. It was after a rainy morning that Emily was reflecting on how nice it was to lay in bed and listen to the rain pelt the roof, and she asked Ida if she stays in bed a little longer on such occasions. Ida responded, "Oh no, I rush out of bed to collect as much water as I can in pots, pans and jerrycans."
In our time here in
Uganda we have seen that water is truly our source of life, and that it is a commodity that we have for much of our lives taken for granted. According to the Joint Monitoring Project (JMP) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF statistics compiled in 2004 (http://www.wssinfo.org/en/watquery.html ), 60% of the Ugandan Population has access to clean drinking water, compared to almost 100% in the United States. Uganda has a recorded population of between 27 and 30 million people, depending on what organization is reporting, and is growing so fast that the population could possibly reach 50 million people shortly after the year 2025. This means that millions within
Uganda are drinking from open water sources that are often contaminated. Worldwide, Over 100,000 children die every day from the lack of clean drinking water, which leads to diarrhea, and many of these are in the rural areas of Uganda. In conversations with doctors who often come through we ask the question, "What is the best way to help with the healthcare of the people in the villages?" Invariably, we have received the answer, "Clean drinking water."
 Around 88 percent of the population in
Uganda lives in the rural areas, and all of the churches that we work with here in Busoga with the exception of 2 are in a village without access to running water. Many of our people have access to a borehole and clean drinking water within a kilometer from their house, yet many do not. Some must walk up to 2 miles to an open water source to fill 20 liter jerrycans with water that may be contaminated with Bilharzia, Giardia, and/or worms. Many carry a couple of these jerrycans for miles, one on their head and one in their hand, while some tie as many of the jerrycans to a bicycle as possible.
 Due to the generous contributions of friends and family we have been able to start drilling and digging wells for several of our churches and their communities in Busoga. We have completed water well projects in
Kirongo
Village and Bugole-Kampala village and are currently working on one in Budoola village. We have partnered with the Busoga Trust Non-Government Organization for shallow wells and with Draco International for the contracting of a deep borehole. We envision work such as this to be an integral facet of a holistic ministry that values body and life here in Busoga. It offers a very practical element in our biblical teaching concerning what the church is and what we are called to do. We want to offer a special thanks to Kirby Jones,
Britton Church , Kent Bogle, Bert and Ann Bryan, and Mike and Sonia Gresham. Thank you so much for your generosity, compassion and work in a ministry that is truly global.
May God continue to call more of us into this work.
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