“You don’t need to invent some Nobel Prize winning formula to save millions of children. The solution already exists: soap & water.” – Therese Dooley

Today is Global Handwashing Day

Did you know that 80% of all infectious diseases are spread by hand?  That means they could be easily preventable with a simple and inexpensive solution that you probably have in your home right now. Yes, that’s right soap! With today being Global Handwashing Day it seemed like a good time to start talking about the incredible power of soap and clean water.

So why is a water charity talking about soap?

Although Drop in the Bucket is known for providing clean water to schools and communities, our activities go beyond just drilling wells. We have a strong component of our program that focuses on sanitation, health, and hygiene.

One of our primary goals is to raise awareness about the importance of good hygiene because it is a simple strategy that can save lives.

Global Studies found that improving hand hygiene can reduce the spread of infectious diseases by 50% – So let’s get to work! 

Many of you donated to our 2015 Soap for South Sudan campaign, which was a huge success. With your support we were able provide soap to hundreds of refugees who were fleeing their homes in South Sudan because of war.

This year our goal is to provide soap and hygiene awareness training to 20 rural schools where we are currently working in northern Uganda.

FACT: Poor sanitation kills more children every year than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. (WHO)

How Can I Help?

Celebrate Global Hand Washing Day with us! Please consider making a donation and help give the gift of good health.

$200 – Provides 5 cases of soap

$40 – Provides 1 case of soap

$20 – Provides ½ case of soap

Feel Good Fact: The soap we will be buying is locally made, so the good generated by your donation is doubled because it supports local women’s groups that make and sell soap

 

Although it’s not glamorous, soap can be a lifesaver! Donate Now

 

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RELATED: World Refugee Day 2019

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As global citizens, we are all interconnected and can have a profound effect on one another. This is a heartwarming story of how one kind gesture set off a chain reaction felt around the world. Learn how a pair of shoes in Uganda started a movement!

Back in October of last year, Drop in the Bucket drilled a well at a school in Koboko, Uganda.

While taking photos of the well, DROP’s Director Stacey Travis noticed something strange. A young boy taking off his shoes and handing them to another boy who started to put them on. After asking one of their teachers Stacey learned the family only had enough money for one pair of shoes, so the brothers shared them.

The one wearing the shoes wanted his brother to be in the photo wearing shoes too. So he took them off and gave them to him.

We were touched by the sweet gesture and shared the story on our Facebook Page. 

One of our donors was so touched by the story she asked if she could buy the brothers some shoes.

Understanding that DROP’s primary mission is to provide clean water, the donor created a simple fundraiser on our website. She ended up raising enough money to fund an entire well! Then she requested that we use the extra money to also purchase some shoes for these boys.

While drilling the new well, we stopped by to visit the brothers so we could measure their feet for new shoes. We then realized that there were two other boys living with them so we ended up purchasing new shoes and fresh socks for them all.

Our organization name is not lost on us – we are just a drop in the bucket. We mainly focus our attention on providing clean water to schools and communities. However, it was a joy to be able to fulfill this one-time unique request from one of our special donors.

And of course, the boys were thrilled.

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RELATED: Drop in the Bucket’s Work Highlighted on Impakter

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It’s World Water Week!

To commemorate World Water Week (August 25 – August 30), we’d like to highlight our teams on the ground. They are committed to drilling wells and providing clean water to schools and rural communities. We appreciate them because they make a difference in hundreds of lives every day.

It is our mission to bring attention to the world water crisis and to shine a light on this grave situation. There is a lack of clean water around the planet. We often feature the students who can’t focus on their studies because they don’t have water in their schools. Families who are suffering from water-borne diseases. The women and girls who sacrifice day in and day out by walking miles to fetch clean water for their families. The global water crisis is real and it is our mission to do something about it.

This year, we would like to take the opportunity to highlight the tireless work of our drilling teams who spend most of the year away from their families drilling in far and remote locations. The work is dirty, exhausting, frustrating and filled with challenges. But through it all, this team stays focused and pushes on. They share our united mission – drilling and providing clean water to children in sub-Saharan Africa.

They will have drilled more than 40 wells for schools and communities this year alone and clocked countless hours planning, preparing and venturing into areas where people are suffering in silence. The DROP team does this work because it’s their passion. They are directly on the ground all the time so they can be directly involved. They stay and work with the communities, the local leaders and individuals who will be the direct beneficiaries.

On World Water Week 2019…

We would like to say thank our team in the trenches and their amazing cook who keeps them fed. The world is better because of your dedication and hard work.

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RELATED: How A Well In Uganda Changed One Girl’s Life

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Here are a few photos of our most recent projects. If you’d like to see a map of our completed projects click here.

 

HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH DROP IN THE BUCKET

Start A Fundraiser

You can do a lot on your own, but think what you could do with a group? Start a fundraiser with your business, school, church, team, or organization group! Once your well is drilled we’ll send you photos of it being used. That way you can see the faces of the children you helped. We will also place a tile with the inscription of your choice on the tile as a permanent commemoration of your achievement. Learn More.

Donate Your Birthday

The greatest gift you can give is the gift of life. It’s hard to wrap our heads around the fact that while we all have so much, some people only need one thing to improve their lives, clean water. Next year on your birthday ask your friends to do something different. Give them the opportunity to change an entire community’s lives. Why not donate your next birthday and instead of gifts ask people to help build a well in your name? Learn More.

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RELATED: How A Pair Of Shoes Started A Movement

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July 9^th marked the eight-year anniversary of independence in South Sudan. The country should have been celebrating after decades of fighting for freedom from the tyranny of Sudan’s Sharia Law. But this year, there was little fanfare because more than half of the country’s population is facing hunger, displacement and ongoing tribal conflicts. While these large stories of the country’s mounting challenges dominated the news cycle, there was a small but hopeful story that caught our attention regarding child marriage in South Sudan. A recent court case ended with a ruling that could have long-term and widespread ramifications for the world’s youngest country.

A 16-year-old girl just won a historic court case against her cattle-farmer father, her uncle and the older man they attempted to marry her off to, for a “bride price” of sixty cows. The three defendants were each sentenced to three years prison time. And the young girl now has the legal right to live as a free and independent person. She will be able to make all decisions regarding her own life and future marriage.

This was the first time a case of this sort has ever gone to trial in South Sudan.  And the outcome will have far-reaching implications well beyond these particular individuals. In a country where child marriage is commonly accepted as a cultural norm, a girl’s worth is linked to her dowry from an early age. And in this polygamist society, adolescent girls are routinely married off to middle-aged men who already have several other wives. This ruling could now change the future of millions of young girls in South Sudan.

Josephine Chandiru, executive director of Steward Women which offers legal advice to victims of sexual and gender-based violence had this to say “This was a historical moment … The judge opened a gateway for us to use it as a precedent in future child marriage cases.”

UNICEF’s head of child protection, Jean Leiby pointed out that South Sudan has the eighth highest prevalence of child marriage and noted that, “The fact that this issue came to court is a step forward in South Sudan.”

This is a major human rights victory for the women and girls of South Sudan. The country may have a long road ahead in its efforts to get back on track. But this is a historic hurdle that was won by a single, 16-year-old, brave young girl who had the courage to stand up and say…. “Not me!”

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RELATED: How A Pair Of Shoes Started A Movement

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Writer and humanitarian aid worker Shelly Galvin recently contributed an article to the Impakter blog about Drop in the Bucket’s work in Uganda. It covers a brief overview of the history of Uganda, the origins and history of Drop in the Bucket and talks about some of our programs, like our village savings groups and our work in menstrual hygiene management.

You can find the full post here.

Drop in the Bucket

Here is a small excerpt from the article:

John and Stacey have learned a lot over the last 13 years since DROP’s inception. But, one thing has been a constant- their dedication to creating solutions that last. They don’t want to return to the same villages time and time again to repair and re-drill wells. Rather, they want their work to have a wider, more encompassing reach. The water issue is far more complicated and intricately interwoven with the poverty and inequity present in Uganda than they had anticipated.

Read the full article here.

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RELATED: How A Well In Uganda Changed One Girl’s Life

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Today is World Refugee Day! It’s a good day to reflect on the work we did last year at the Palabek Refugee Settlement in Uganda. The project provided clean water to thousands of South Sudanese refugees who had arrived in Uganda with nothing except the clothes they were carrying. Many of the refugees had walked for several weeks to get to the settlement. They arrived with their families and the clothes they were carrying, but little else. Children walked for hours in the hot sun with no shoes. Mothers walked carrying babies on their backs.

The refugees were fleeing the drought, famine, and conflict of South Sudan and arrived at Palabek hoping for peace, stability and the chance at a new life. One of the wells we drilled was the first well that the refugees would reach on arrival at the settlement.

We were proud to have been a part of this project and thank everyone who helped make it possible.

Additionally, a generous donation from packH2O provided 25,000 water backpacks with taps to help transport the water and keep it clean.

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RELATED: How A Well In Uganda Changed One Girl’s Life

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Today is Menstrual Hygiene Day. Discussions about menstruation have long been taboo. But the world is changing. And as we strive to lift up the girls we work with and support them in their quest for education, this is a topic we cannot overlook.

Since 2015, DROP has been implementing projects that train students about Menstrual Hygiene Management.
In the areas we work, a large majority of girls are not enrolled in school and those who are usually drop out by 5th grade. Supporting these girls means understanding all of the issues that affect them, from cultural and political to basic health and hygiene. Although there are many reasons girls lose out on education, forced early marriage, weak support structure, and menstruation are at the top.

The fact is, menstruation keeps girls home from school in many parts of the world. Over time they end up dropping out due to missed days and falling behind, as well as the inconveniences and embarrassment. But this is mostly due to lack of information and supplies. With our program, we tackle the taboos head-on. Along with constructing school toilets with handwashing stations and changing rooms, we have a comprehensive program to inform both boys and girls about menstruation.

We place informational posters around the school, work with the teachers and form clubs that use plays and songs to discuss sensitive topics. Our teams also organize instructional workshops for both girls and boys on how to sew washable, reusable pads out of local flannel. And we train mothers on selling the pads to the local community. It may seem simple but the impact of this program is huge.

On this Menstrual Hygiene Day, we salute the people around the world who are breaking down the barriers and confronting these taboos. These girls deserve the same opportunities as boys to explore their potential because knowledge is power. At DROP, we believe in using all the tools we can to spread knowledge and empower the next generation.

Thanks for your support.

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RELATED: How A Well In Uganda Changed One Girl’s Life

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