Imagine, for a moment, that you and your children have no access to healthy, clean water. You and your daughter or son have to walk miles, twice a day, to collect contaminated water in heavy jerry cans to be used for your cooking, washing, and bathing. As you continue this daily ritual, you understand that 1 in 5 children under five years of age, and many adults, are dying from parasites that even boiling the water could not stop. Yet you continue because no one can survive without water the water you collect is the only water available to your village. Your daughters and sons carry water instead of being in school each day. There is little hope for a future. Now imagine that the Rotary Club of Laguna Niguel donates $6,000 to fund each of two clean water wells in 2017 and 2019. Your village, Butawata B, in the Mubende District of Uganda, Africa with 1,530 people, has received a well of its own that is providing clean, potable water in the village.
Imagine, for a moment, that you and your children have no access to healthy, clean water. You and your daughter or son have to walk miles, twice a day, to collect contaminated water in heavy jerry cans to be used for your cooking, washing and bathing. As you continue this daily ritual, you understand that 1 in 5 children under five years of age, and many adults, are dying from parasites that even boiling the water could not stop. Yet you continue, because no one can survive without water the water you collect is the only water available to your village. Your daughters and sons carry water instead of being in school each day. There is little hope for a future.
Now imagine that the Rotary Club of Laguna Niguel donates $6,000 to fund each clean water well #288 in 2017 and #480 in 2019. Your village, Butawata B, in the Mubende District of Uganda, Africa with 1,530 people, received a well on September 23, 2017 that is providing clean, potable water in the village. Children and adults are no longer sick and dying from contaminated ground water. Your daughters, sons and you no longer have to carry water, so your children can now attend school.
According to the World Health Organization, a child dies every 21 seconds from a waterborne illness; and there are 860 million people in the world that don’t have access to even the most basic water services.
In the Mityana District of Uganda, the village of Wabinyira thanks the Laguna Niguel Rotary Club, and WellsofLife.org, for their clean water. Since November 29, 2019, clean water well #480 has been providing health and survival to 1,015 people of the village. The joy you can see in the photos is unlike anything we have experienced in this country because clean water is not just a luxury, it truly means life and survival of your family and neighbors! The most fundamental need for survival has been provided by drilling relatively shallow wells of only 75 to 100 feet in depth to tap the huge water aquafer that exists.
Wells of Life, based in Irvine, has constructed over 500 clean water wells; and its is well on its way to reaching its goal of 1000. In partnership with the Wells of Life organization, the Laguna Niguel Rotary Club intends to fund at least one or more wells per year. Rotary International has embraced the concept of bringing clean water to the world. In fact, Clean Water has been designated as its primary goal via 1.2 million Rotarians in 35,000 Rotary Clubs in more than 200 countries.
Wells of Life has a team of fifteen full-time people in Uganda providing all the coordination with the villages to not only construct the water wells, but also to run a program called the WASH Program to teach the villagers the critical importance of sanitation practices in their day to day living.
Rotary’s motto is “Service Above Self” and the Laguna Niguel Rotary’s focus on clean water and sanitation for the poorest people of Uganda, Africa is certainly a fulfillment of that Rotary motto.