ST. GERALD NURSERY AND PRIMARY SCHOOL, MPASAANA, UGANDA

FUNDED AUGUST 2, 2023

St. Gerald’s Schoolyard

St. Gerald Nursery and Primary School is located in the village of Mpasaana, in the Kakumiro District of Uganda.  There are 480 students at the school and 180 households in Mpasaana, approximately 900 villagers.  Therefore the total number of people who will be served each day is around 1,250, allowing for an overlap of students and villagers.  The proposed borehole well and hand pump will be able to provide water for at least 1,500 people each day, so all of the students and the entire village will be served.

Below are some of the buildings on St. Gerald’s campus.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

The school and village must use open ponds in the swamp as their water source.  This water is full of frogs and snakes, and is used by both livestock and wild animals.  The water is causing Typhoid in many of the villagers and students.  Treating typhoid is expensive.  A single dose can cost a day’s wage.  Money that would have been spent on supplies, tuition, books, and even food will go to treating this illness instead.  It creates a poverty cycle that is impossible to beat. 

There isn’t a single family that hasn’t been impacted by Typhoid in the past six months.  Children are particularly susceptible.  They tend to be hit harder by the fever, and they are more likely to contract the illness because they won’t wait to boil the water.  This illness makes learning impossible.  It comes with an excruciating headache. Children that fall prey to Typhoid will often fall behind in school.  And many never finish their education because they have fallen too far behind ever to catch up.  All because the water they drink is bad.

Here are students heading out to gather water, some on bicycles, but most on foot, carrying their water jugs with them.

Women and girls especially must spend large portions of their days collecting this water.  The mothers know it will make their children sick, and they do their best to prevent it.  But they also know that if they don’t give their children any water, they will die of thirst in days.  And for some women the time spent at the well comes with the risk of angering their husbands and fathers when they return home.
If the dinner isn’t prepared on time, or the chores not done, women are often beaten. All of these are a result of the village having only contaminated water to drink.

CEED’S EXPERIENCE

CEED has been drilling clean water wells in Uganda for over a decade. We have two small drilling rigs and one ‘Big Rig’ that can punch through layers of rock that the smaller rigs cannot. The CEED-Uganda Manager is Herbert Asiimwe. He has been with CEED for almost as long as we have been drilling. He is well known in the area for his expertise. And our drilling teams have an average of over 10 years of experience on drilling rigs.

CEED Uganda is also a non-profit, all funds go to paying our teams as well as the necessary drilling supplies from concrete, drill steel, hand pumps, etc.

CEED is so well known in the areas that we drill that our teams have been dubbed the Typhoid Fighters.

WELL MAINTENANCE & REPAIRS

It is important that the villagers take full ownership of the wells we drill.  If they do not, then wells can fall into disrepair, not for the lack of funds, but because no on in the village will take responsibility to inform us that something is wrong.  To solve this issue CEED requires a Water Committee in each village.  The villagers each contribute a small amount of money to the village water fund.  That fund is then used for any future repairs.  We’ve never turned a village down for a repair if they didn’t have the actual repair cost.  But the very act of
gathering the funds and ‘buying in’ causes the villagers to take ownership of their well and to care for it.  The well space stays weeded and clean;  the pump is treated with care, and the village has water for years to come.

CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

When we drill our wells we bring a solar projector and the ‘Jesus’ film that has been dubbed in the native language of the area. Dozens of villages come to see the film. And since CEED is in the act of providing for their physical needs, this film has a great impact. After all if the Lord sent money from the United States for a clean water well, then He must truly love the people of the village. I have seen churches grow around well sites as villagers gain a practical understanding of how much the Lord cares about them.  All are welcome at the well.

Schools in Uganda often teach about the Lord as well, with the rare exception of a Muslim school.  So higher school attendance offers more opportunities for discipleship in the children.

PROJECT COSTS AND TIMELINE

Total Project Cost: $5,000

Cost break out:

• Materials:         $3,900
• Labor:                  $650
• Administrative:  $450

Future maintenance:  The villagers collect a penny or two a month from each household to keep for maintenance. This system ensures that the well is fully adopted by the village and cared for.

Other Costs:  If we hit rock, the well will need to be drilled by the big rig. That may cost more, but we will likely match funding from another source.

Funding Requested from ILW:  $5000

Date Funding Required:  As soon as possible

Estimated Project Start Date:  Within 2-3 weeks of funding date

Estimated Project Completion Date: Within 2-3 months of funding date

FUTURE IMPACT

Clean water will change everything.  First will come an improvement in health with up to 70% less illness in the village on any given day. Hygiene will improve, further impacting the health benefits.  The school’s attendance will blossom as children not only are now healthy enough to stay in school, but [because] parents from further away will want their children in school because of the clean water.

As the levels of illness stay down, villagers will start to spend their money on projects that will improve their lives and their communities. Churches will start, new gardens will be planted, food will be grown, books and supplies for education will be purchased.  Women will not only have time for their chores, but some will even be able to start cottage businesses also, from selling produce to sewing. Husbands will be required to be good to their wives as per the agreement with CEED.  Daughters will be able to go to school and get
an education.  The village will grow as others come for clean water.