In Uganda, it is not uncommon for children to be raised by their grandmothers, often when parents are no longer together or have passed away. Anena Kevin’s family is one such example. Anena and her brother Ezra are being cared for by their grandmother, Acan Margaret. She explains, “I have my two lovely ‘children’ to care for. Their mother separated from their father and had to start working in town.”

Acan Margaret does her best to provide for the children by growing vegetables in her garden. Their mother sends what money she can, but it is never quite enough. The food from the garden helps, but what the family needed most was access to safe, clean drinking water. Their only water source was an open waterhole and they used this water for everything including drinking.

The open waterhole was a stagnant body of water shared with local livestock. The water was green with algae and you could see tadpoles and other visible contaminants. Acan always felt guilty when she gave that water to the children, saying, “Each time I saw them drinking that water, it always felt like I had given them poison to drink. I couldn’t stop them from drinking it because I knew they were thirsty.”

The guilt was exacerbated when her children contracted typhoid and other waterborne diseases. Acan sighs and adds, “I am already old and don’t have much to lose, but my children have their whole lives ahead of them.”

On days when she had the energy, she would make the two-kilometer walk to the nearest trading center to fetch clean water. The journey was physically demanding due to her age and health, but she persisted for the sake of the girls. Acan recalls, “I used to walk to the trading center while the girls were at school. The walk there with two empty jerricans was okay, but the walk back took longer. It was tough, but it was worth it to see the girls drinking clean water.”

In order to make the return trip more manageable, Acan started carrying smaller containers, but this still only provided enough water for drinking. For other household needs, they were still reliant on the dirty water.

Besides the distance, there was also the challenge of navigating the slippery path back up the hill from the well. People often fell while trying to carry the water. Acan shares, “One time I got stuck about halfway down the slippery slope. It had just rained, and the ground was slippery. I was carrying water at the time, but I could not go forwards or backwards without falling down.” Fortunately, her granddaughter, Acan Evelyn, heard her cries for help and rescued her.

Grateful for the change, Acan Margaret remarks with a soft voice, “If it weren’t for you, I would have fallen to my death or broken a leg fetching water.” She is so happy that Drop in the Bucket came to Oturuloya Lagwedola and drilled this a well.

“I am so happy that my family now has access to clean water. Please thank the donor who funded this well and changed our lives”.

Wednesday Oct 11th – International Day of the Girl 2023

International Day of the Girl was a great success in Nimule, South Sudan, despite the absence of other NGOs that had previously participated in the event. The schools and the community still engaged in a meaningful, lively, and colorful day. DROP provided t-shirts to representatives from all eleven primary schools in Nimule Central Boma, including those schools that we are not supporting, so that those children did not feel left out. The event began with the annual parade, where all the local school children marched through Nimule town and ended at St. Patrick Primary School, where the celebration was held.

Back to School in South Sudan

After a well-deserved second-term holiday, South Sudanese secondary students are eagerly returning to school. The anticipation and excitement are palpable as our recent photos capture the moments of scholastic materials being sorted and groups of enthusiastic girls loading into vehicles. This year, we are proud to announce that we have nearly 200 girls receiving scholarships, each with a bright future ahead.

Celebrating Academic Excellence

Among our scholarship recipients, we have several standout performers whose academic achievements continue to inspire us. Their dedication and hard work are truly commendable, and we look forward to sharing their inspiring stories with you in the coming months.

Holiday Academic Coaching Program

We are thrilled to report the successful completion of our holiday academic coaching program at the DROP compound and dorm in South Sudan. Every holiday season, we bring talented Ugandan teachers to Nimule for two weeks to work closely with our students in key subjects such as math, English, chemistry, biology, and physics. This initiative has had a profoundly positive impact on our students’ academic performance, and we are committed to its continuation.

Exploring a New Curriculum

In pursuit of holistic education, Uganda has introduced a new curriculum that emphasizes practical work, group collaboration, and problem-solving. This innovative approach encourages students to unleash their creativity and apply their knowledge to real-world challenges. Projects range from building underground fridges and interviewing local businesses to making liquid soap and creating skits and drama. This dynamic curriculum is empowering our students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Empowering Post-Secondary Students

We are excited to share that we are selecting ten high-achieving girls to pursue university education, with a focus on nursing and clinical medicine. These young women are currently engaged in practical training in Adjumani, and we are immensely proud of their dedication and progress. Stay tuned for more updates on their remarkable journey.

University Dreams Come True

Six of our girls are enrolling in university, including Gloria Emman, who overcame challenges to pursue her dreams. Gloria, a promising student in 2019, is now enrolling in Juba University to study human resource management. Her determination is an inspiration to us all, and we look forward to supporting her on this exciting journey.

Community Engagement and Awareness

Our DROP team remains actively engaged in community awareness campaigns, recently conducting training sessions for two Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) groups. The goal is to involve parents and community members in supporting the girls’ education and ensuring they stay in school. Our long-term goal is to graduate 30% of the girls in Nimule Central Boma from secondary school, and these efforts are crucial to achieving that vision.

Thank you for your unwavering support of our mission. Your generosity is transforming lives and communities in South Sudan. Together, we are making a difference.

Warm regards,

Stacey Travis
Drop in the Bucket Director

In Te Pwoyo Village, a remote community in northern Uganda, a remarkable transformation is underway. Meet Omon Charles Ojok, a dedicated leader at the heart of this community. Ojok wears multiple hats, serving as the village health team member, the local council leader, and the chairperson of the water source committee. He is known in the community as a fair leader and is widely respected. For years Omon Charles has been working to get his village clean water.

A Challenging Quest for Clean Water

For over six years, Omon Charles Ojok has grappled with the pressing issue of unclean water in the village. The primary sources of water for Te Pwoyo were the Unyama River and a waterhole known as ‘liri-liri,’ a name that perfectly encapsulates its slow and narrow water flow.

Liri-Liri Waterhole

Akot Jenna Lucy, remembers walking two kilometers to fetch water. “We used to walk there only to find a crowded water source with an agonizingly slow water flow. I can only describe it  as a ‘trickle.’ For Akot Jenna and her fellow villagers, this was their daily reality.

The Unyama River

The only other alternative for Te Pwoyo Village was the Unyama River, a source of water that was not only dirty but also quite distant. The path to the river was unkempt, making the journey there and back somewhat perilous due to the presence of dangerous snakes, including pythons.

A Bucket of Bullets

Two years ago, two young boys, Rubangakene Oscar and Rubangakene Oscar Emmanuel, discovered something unusual while collecting water from the Unyama River. They found a plastic bucket filled with live ammunition that had washed ashore.

The Dark History of Abductions

Older members of the community were horrified by the discovery of the bullets, which served as a chilling reminder of the area’s dark history with the LRA (Lords’ Resistance Army) rebels and their two-decade-long reign of terror. Omon Charles Ojok, vividly remembers the LRA’s presence in the area. “I think  the bullets were left by the rebels”, he says. A chilling reminder of the area’s dark past.

The New Well Brings New Hope

In response to these challenges, the community of Te Pwoyo Village received a lifeline that has transformed their lives. Drop in the Bucket commissioned a newly drilled borehole, bringing hope, health, and safety to the people of Te Pwoyo.

The story of Te Pwoyo Village underscores the impact that clean water can have on communities in need. Through the provision of water wells, lives are changed, challenges are overcome, and hope is rekindled. Omon Charles Ojok and his fellow villagers have been liberated from bullets, pythons, and the relentless struggle for clean water. Their journey serves as an inspiration, highlighting the profound change achievable when communities unite to create a brighter future.

Bulubandi Primary School is one of the largest schools in eastern Uganda. With over 2,000 students, spanning grades 1 through 7, the head teacher, Naigaga Madinga well understands the magnitude of her job.

“Running a school this size requires infrastructure and resources. As you can see, everything we need here is in large numbers”, says Madinga. “I have been teaching at this school for 14 years and in all of that time, we have never had a reliable and continuous source of clean water.”

She goes on to explain that the large government-funded school had partial access to two water sources, but both were unreliable.

One was a community borehole that was always crowded. Here the women began lining up early in the morning, with their jerry cans marking their location in line. Because they needed this water for their daily domestic workload of cooking, washing clothes, cleaning, and bathing children, they were not interested in the students cutting in their line to get a drink from the already-crowded water point. And tensions would brew.

The second option was piped municipal water. But this was not a sustainable solution. For one, the piped-water supply only worked intermittently. According to Mukiza, the water would dry up for weeks at a time. And in addition to that, paying for municipal water was completely unaffordable for a school the size of Bulubandi.

The lack of water brought many challenges to the large school. But the loudest complaint came from the boy students. They were not allowed to play sports!

Like boys throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the students at Bulubandi love to play soccer. It was not uncommon to have nearly 1000 children running after a ball during recess. And, in the Ugandan heat, that made for a lot of thirsty kids.

The administration legitimately feared that the students could pass out from dehydration.

According to Muhondo Eric, the senior male teacher at the school, “Nobody at the school wanted to stop the children from having fun, but we had to limit how much they could play and sweat because of water rationing.”

Now that DROP has drilled and we have a permanent water solution, we no longer have to worry about rationing. The students are back to playing sports and tensions have settled. In addition, their academic performance and daily attendance also seem to be improving.

According to Madinga, we are grateful for this new water source for many reasons. For one, it gives the school a clean, consistent and reliable water supply. That solved many very problems for the school. And there is no need to ration water, or fun, anymore.

From Unsafe Water to a Better Solution

Located in the Pader district of northern Uganda, the Angole Health Center II used to struggle to provide basic care to its patients. The reason was a lack of clean water. Located near a trading center, the health center serves both as a place of work and a home for the medical professionals who work there. However, its lack of a clean water source made it difficult for staff to effectively care for patients.  

Before the well

Awor Margaret, a midwife at the health center, explained that the staff used to fetch water from a borehole at a nearby primary school, which was also used by the local community. This meant that medical staff had to leave patients waiting while they went to collect water. The water generally lasted until the afternoon, allowing staff to see around 50 patients per day. But if they were too tired to fetch more water, they had to turn patients away and ask them to come back the next day.

In times of crisis, such as when the borehole broke down, the nearest water source was an open stream two kilometers away. Oyella Ketty, a nurse at the health center, remembers the risks and ramifications of healthcare workers leaving patients waiting while they walked for water.

The water from the stream was not safe to drink, as Awor Margaret recalls seeing organisms swimming in it. But with no other options, the medical staff had to give it to patients for drinking and swallowing tablets.

The new well

Thanks to a new well, however, the Angole Health Center II now has access to all the clean water it needs for drinking, hand washing, treating sick children, and cleaning the facility. In fact, the Ministry of Health now requires that all healthcare facilities in Uganda be cleaned twice per day in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the new well, meeting this requirement would have been impossible.

Oyella Ketty looks at the people getting water from the new well and her face lights up. She explains that the borehole provides all the water the community needs and that the staff is now able to care for all of their patients without fear of running out of water.

The new well has been a game-changer for the Angole Health Center II and the local community. No longer do the medical staff have to worry about leaving patients waiting while they fetch water, or about giving their patients unsafe water to drink. Now, they are able to focus on providing the best possible care to their patients and serving the community to the best of their ability.

But the struggles of the Angole Health Center II are not unique. Across Uganda, many communities face challenges when it comes to access to clean water. This is a problem that disproportionately affects women and children, who are often responsible for collecting water for their families.

The efforts of organizations like Drop in the Bucket are critical in addressing this issue and improving the lives of communities in Uganda and beyond. By working to provide access to clean water, these organizations are helping to improve health, education, and economic opportunities for people in need.

The story of the Angole Health Center II is a testament to the transformative power of clean water and the positive impact it can have on communities. It is a reminder of the importance of supporting efforts to bring clean water to those who need it most.