Kirinda

Last year, we spent our summer in Africa. When we were in the villages we loaded up our truck with jerry cans and filled our nalgene bottles to the brim. Sometimes we had to walk miles to the nearest borehole to fill the jerry cans and nalgenes up. Those cans are so much heavier than they may appear.

I can't even tell you how many people in the villages came up to us so that we would pray for them. We absolutely prayed for them, but we would also ask how much water they drank that day. Most of them would tell us very small amounts. This meant a variety of ailments, but most common were headaches. They conserved their water so that they didn't have to walk the many miles back to the nearest borehole. In one village they got water out of a lake, and ran the risk of being eaten by a crocodile or a hippo while they collected water.

I can't even carry one of those cans far with just my hands. These girls and women carry water on their heads after walking miles to get it and then return home. 

Water is vital. 

In the village of Kirinda in Uganda they have one borehole that they share with livestock. They have no access to clean water. 

World Water Day | Water for Kirinda from World Help on Vimeo.

March 22 is World Water Day. This World Water Day, World Help is asking you to be a part of bringing water to Kirinda. You can be a part of bringing hope to this community.

Meet Ratifah. She is an ambitious high school student and a passionate follower of Jesus. She has overcome great odds to gain an education and yet one major obstacle still remains in her way.

She misses school regularly due to water-related illnesses.

It is estimated that every year, waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysentery keep children out of school for a combined 443 million school days.

Meet Silvano. When Silvano was younger his father committed suicide. After his father's death was enrolled in World Help's Sponsorship Program. He now attends school.

When he comes home this is the water they drink. 

"Whenever I come back to Kirinda to visit my mother, my siblings and I are forced to use this dirty, red-like water full of waterborne diseases,"Silvano told us.

Clean water will open the door to life, opportunity and prosperity. This World Water Day, join us as we commit to transforming a community in central Uganda.

Meet Sumayiya. Her smile is like instant sunshine. 

Many times young girls are tasked with getting water for the family. That sometimes mean missing school and running the risk of being sexually assaulted. 

In Northern Uganda, one-third of all women have been victims of sexual violence. What’s more, the first sexual encounter of 25 percent of girls is reported to be against their will.

Many of these instances occur when girls are collecting water alone.

This World Water Day we can be a part of bringing hope to Kirinda. Would you join us?