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Namalemba and Bumoozi had been unfortunate in having several unsustainable water sources due to ground conditions, and it was Johnson Waibii, on his visit to Bitterne in 2004, who talked about his vision for above-ground Rainwater Harvesting Projects which would work well in the area. We asked him for a proposal for a way to overcome the difficulties, and true to his word, Johnson came up with a major DRWH scheme involving Bitterne funding 207 DRWH systems. Towards the end of 2005, we sat down and thought about ways to attempt to raise the very large sum of money required from a fairly ordinary C of E parish, starting with a fund-raising project over the six weeks of Lent 2006. One of the principle messages was that collecting roof-water is empowering for girls, avoiding the need to drag heavy jerry-cans several kilometres every morning instead of attending school.
Progress: By Easter 2006 the total amount raised was mounting to £4000, and it kept growing. Somehow the issues raised touched people’s hearts, and their chequebooks. Our local schools have adopted the scheme, the children have raised money themselves, and their parents have contributed at the Christmas Carol services. A year later, nearly £24,000 had been sent to Busoga Trust, rising to approx £28,000 with tax reclaimed under Gift Aid. This is a phenomenal amount for an area like Bitterne, and we’d like to say an enormous ‘Thank you’ to everyone who has helped. Also, we have been promised the collection money from Bitterne Junior School’s Harvest Services this year and hope to raise more at the Christmas Market on 24th November.
On 8 November 2007, the Rev Andrew Pearson reported that 72 x 6000L DRWH systems are now complete, with 6 almost finished = 78. Plus one 20,000L tank at the Health Centre. There were delays as they assembled their teams for the Home Improvement Campaigns, where a team from Busoga Trust goes into a community and teaches basic hygiene such as hand-washing; keeping food and water clean; disposing of used water, rather than leaving it to rest in mosquito-infested puddles, and using pit latrines, instead of fields for human waste. This had to come first - it adds considerably to the cost, but is considered essential – if your home practices good hygiene and has clean water, it doesn’t benefit you unless your neighbour keeps his property clean – flies know no boundaries. Now that's done they can press ahead with more tanks for those areas.
Bitterne (Namalemba/Bumoozi) was the first area to have the Home Improvement Campaigns, now six more areas are currently being trained in Busoga and 20 in Luwero area. In order to facilitate this, Busoga Trust have recently bought 4 reconditioned 1990s Land Rovers, at £8000 each, to arrive in Uganda in Jan 2008. They will be maintained by a British volunteer. Andrew Pearson will send us an updated written report about our link parishes in the New Year.
We have learned from the experience in Namalemba and Bumoozi that simple solutions are the best, and collecting rainwater represents a brilliantly simple ecological answer to the one of the main problems facing sub-Saharan Africa. By adding common-sense hygiene practices to this means we can change the lives of some of the poorest people on the planet.
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