WASH Kikondo

Foundations for the Water Unit house

The Thursday and Friday before Christmas I finally had the chance to go to the site of our first TradeWater project - Kikondo. Ritah and I did the typical two days preliminary water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) training. We sent the equipment there with the technicians in their vehicles, and we ourselves went by boat. After the generator failed us half way through teaching on the first day, we gave up on it and stuck to our basic teaching tools of poster paper and WaSH game cards. The first day we teach on water sources, contamination, disease, treatment, and keeping the water clean (collection and storage containers). This always makes for good discussion and gives us a chance to gauge where the community is at in their home hygiene habits.

Each group presents their collective views,
and we work through it together

Crowding in



Managed to get the kids stand back a few steps so I could
"beat them with the camera" (that's the literal translation)


The second day we get into more details of hygiene and sanitation, and how little fecal matter is needed to make you drink down disease. The ladies were a little slow to gather on the second day when we arrived; the kids sure noticed us quickly, and bombarded me. Fortunately, I really like kids, I think they're fun. However, having several kids hanging off each arm and trying to be the closest one to me is no simple task, lol. They were poking my skin and watching it change colour. Then we'd poke their skin and see that it was consistent in colour. Ah, the little things. I did discover though, after having my fingers pulled at for a while, that their palms change colour when prodded at. (Try it now if you don't recall: the colour goes away leaving a white shade, which slowly fades away. It's even more impressive if you're a bit cold because you get some purple in there too - as I did on this day.)


Not that many ladies came, a dozen at our peak, so we just gathered on a verandah. It was a nice setting actually, because everyone could sit down together and work as one team. I was quite horrified that they had no idea what constituted good sanitation facilities, or practice in the lack of facilities. You should pray with me for Kikondo!

The men were better educated regarding hygiene and sanitation behaviours. I guess because men are prioritised in families sending the kids to school; girls are needed to help in the home and garden. Growing up in an under-developed community is not a joke - and Kikondo is just across the waters from Jinja. In the words of my young teenage cousin in-law as she looked in exasperation at us adults making fools of ourselves, dancing on Thanksgiving, "God should help us!".


We've also done our final interviews for the Water Agent, who will head up the water business in the beneficiary community. We're just trying to get a hold of her (yes, it's a lady) to inform her, which is being done via the local chairman because she doesn't have a phone. I'll tell you her name when it's confirmed. I had such a great feeling about this lady, so I'm very happy. She has a big responsibility of being a vessel of transformation in her community, so please be praying for her specifically over the next couple of months. Exciting times!

Emily Nabirye



Kiiza holding the "flower" the kids gave me



Christmas Dresses

Tea time at our place

Nangiro helps Muya take tea

I got a lovely surprise Saturday lunch time. Bryan and I had planned to meet Steve, Kelly and Amulet out for lunch, but then Kelly was ill and Fausta arrived to wash our clothes. (We met Fausta through Steve and Kelly, whom she works for and they have offered her family care in desperate times.) I made a quick visit to greet Kelly, then Steve, Amulet and I headed to Bryan and my place. When we arrived at the door, we were greeted by 3 grinning girls, sloshing around the tea Bryan had prepared for them as they ran to us. Fausta had dressed her two elder daughters in the Christmas dresses we bought them in America. We all ate lunch together, and I had the chance to play with the kids while Steve and Bryan chatted. Jude has a large yard, a swing, and a wheel barrow, plus we have a ball - what more could a few kids need for hours of fun!

Nangiro Grace and Lapuche Gift on Amulet on the swing

Fausta and almost 2 year old Muya

This little family has had such a rough run, please pray for Fausta's family to be blessed (with healing, encouragement and provision) by the little income and love we offer them.

I had fun teaching the girls to catch and throw

In the evening I went with Ashley and her girls Diana and Agnes; a somewhat recovered Kelly, Amulet and some others to watch Diana, and Jeremy and Tamara's daughter Gloria in their first ever Christmas play. I love kids plays, the enthusiasm they present the songs with, how they carefully recite their lines, and the opportunity they have to learn the messages of the story by all the practice that goes into the presentation. (Unfortunately, the couple of photos I took were rubbish so you'll have to imagine.)  

Amulet is like a big brother to the girls,
it's so beautiful

Enjoy this blessed season!

Emily

LL Training

You must all be very excited - less than 2 weeks until Christmas! Are you feeling joyous and appreciative?!


This is Rogers, now the Water Agent Manager
The Water Agent is the local employee that runs TW on the ground



The new WMI project model "TradeWater" is under construction and about to be launched. An engineer from Grundfos Kenya is out training some of us WMU staff on how to use the LifeLink unit (water dispensing unit). Bryan has been putting the system together for a couple of weeks now, with wiring, internet connection, and other technically challegning things. Those of us in community development will know the summarised version. We now know bits about wiring, connecting to the server, payment operations, and general set-up. It's an exciting endeavour. The guys were even saying that because of the high-tech yet simple to use nature of the new equipment, we're even going to see men collecting water! Or at least going with their wives so they can push the buttons.

I can't wait for the new accountable, accessible water service to be in full operation.

 

This is the box that contains the computer of the unit, slot for the sim card, wiring to connect the solar panels and pump, and connection to the battery back-up. The system remains operational for 5 days if the sun or solar panels break down, so there is a very low chance of water not being available, technically speaking.

In training in the WMU office



This is the accountant, Maria.
She is a lovely person and hard worker.



Tomorrow, Maria and I will plan for the staff Christmas party for Thursday afternoon. Fun! We already had cake on Monday (Bryan and I bought it for Will's birthday), chocolates from the visitors, now a Christmas party... the staff should feel well bonded over fun times at the end of this. We need more of a fun, team feel to the place!

Love Emily

'Giant K'

This here is 'Giant K'...


At least that's how the Lwanika village mad man introduced himself to me. We met yesterday when I was taking our donor visitors, Kyle and Darryl, around to some WMU project sites. Between the odd chatter, abrupt manner (such as jumping infront of the camera when Darryl was photographing our workers, behind), wounds, puss, stench, and uncomfortably low trouser line, he wasn't exactly drawing people to himself. The kids, who formed our large entourage as we moved around the village to see the layout of the safe water system and distribution, ran every time he came near.


I am of the view that mad people are generally treated worse than their actions call for. So with my fellow WMU worker Shalvin close by, I made sure to set an example to the kids that you can be nice to someone without being overly friendly. To go down to the lake we needed to go down a steep slope. 'Giant K' took my hand to "help" me; I could just see us rolling down in a heap, and eased my way backwards onto a rock, encouraging him to go down by himself slowly, slowly. Shalvin then helped me from my retreat position. Giant K' took off to help the kids hold up the intake pipe for the men to row it out into the lake (explanation: WMU uses lake water, and positions the intake pipe about 100m out from the shoreline). Ironically, he was the only one giving the kids clear instructions, and I found out later that he also told off the adults on the shore for watching the kids do all the work. Too funny!

My opportunity came when the intake pipe work was done, and the kids were gathered around in a circle, chatting with me. 'Giant K' came and sat himself down in the middle of us. Perfect! He pointed out his horrible, infected, open wounds and said they hurt (no kidding!). I offered to pray for him - that's what I'd been waiting for. Yeah! He said yes, and I told the kids that we were going to pray for him. They closed their eyes, and I prayed for the Kingdom to come upon him, to bring a change to his heart, mind and body, and for the healing of his wounds - the normal things one prays. 

You can see why I crave the field work, right; it's all the in-between "work" moments that make up the experience and the influence we are able to have.
"Little things" are so important.

Emily

Back in Ug

Just before we went to the US, WMU had a visitor from Grundfos Denmark come to visit to learn about the TradeWater project. Louise was so positive and inspired, and I was (with permission) able to share a lot of community development ideas in terms of WASH training. After being in Uganda she was going to Kenya, and so wanted to have some alternative views on how to operate their community-minded business. It was a mutually beneficial trip. We took her to the nearby projects of Ntinkalu, which is almost finished, and Musuli, one of the early projects.

Of course I loved having the opportunity to be out in the villages! With the kids!

Bryan and I got back to Jinja Tuesday morning, around 4am. Our home was just as we left it... without power or gas.  Diesel is being rationed December-January, power is out daily, water goes off too (happens when power is off consistently), and we're yet to find who we can overpay to have our gas re-filled. For me personally it's not that big a deal, but for people like Jude (the friend who we stay with and rent off) business depends on it.

We went back to work on Tuesday. We arrived on time, but tiredness got the better of us and we went home to sleep at 2pm. The first site for the TradeWater pilot projects is starting soon! The village is called Kikondo; it's in Buikwe District. The leaders have been well informed and consulted, the MOU has been signed, the land purchased, and we are in the process of identifying the Water Agent. Construction of the water system, bathrooms, and phone charging set-up starts Monday. A couple of the guys from Grundfos Kenya are coming to train the team on how to install and operate the LifeLink unit this weekend. It will be good for Bryan to be able to be out in the field, putting his engineering skills to use. I think I'll get to go out and do the WASH trainings with Ritah, but otherwise I'm here in the office. Oh, the office.

Bryan and David at the Yokum Thanksgiving

It's hard to believe the year is almost up. Bryan and I will spend Christmas with some American and Canadian friends. We haven't organised the menu yet, but we've opted not to buy a chicken or a goat because it's so much effort. We want to be able to go to church, be merry and chill out. Can't go too wrong on Christmas though, right!

CLTS

WMU goes with GOAL to the field.

Yesterday, WMU health trainer Ritah and I went to Namayingo District to see GOAL’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) work. In the morning we saw how they do follow up of communities, house by house, checking on what home improvements have been achieved or are being worked upon. This gives opportunity to explain and address hygiene on a personal basis, plus adds pressure to achieve the goals the community members initially desired. We also went to the borehole that GOAL had put in this community.

 

Susan, Ritah and I then left the team doing follow-up to see the school projects. GOAL’s work in the schools is to build latrines, set them up for rainwater harvesting, and provide fir tree seedlings.

See the contrast between the old and new latrine blocks.

In the afternoon, the team split into two (2) groups for ‘triggering’ sessions. GOAL follows an international sanitation teaching method called Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). The specific aim, though general WASH points are incorporated, is to end open defecation in a community by creating disgust and putting it to the community to do something about it (i.e. dig latrines for themselves).

In CLTS the trainers get the community to map out their community with all structures and streams. Each person is given a blue or yellow paper to mark their house, depending on if they have a latrine (blue) or not (yellow). Every person whose name is on a yellow paper is called forth, one by one, to pour some ash where they defecate. Already such residents feel embarrassed.

Community mapping, with places for open defecation marked

The trainers then get the group to go to one of the defecation areas and together they find feces. This is where community members are really ‘triggered’ that open defecation is shameful and disgusting, and so should be changed. We see the flies that are on it and consider where it goes when rains come (into the water sources), and community members see that they have been eating and drinking one another’s poo (or “shit” – trainers are supposed to use whatever word is most offensive). I was going to take photos of disgusted faces, but they were so ashamed and I thought one lady would even cry, so I kept the camera down for that moment.

The walk of shame.

We then go back to the meeting place, with the shit. A trainer hands around a sealed bottle of water, which volunteers freely drink from. He or she then takes a thin piece of grass, dips it in the shit, and puts in the bottle. Again, the bottle of water is passed around. No one drinks it. “Why not?” The trainer asks, “it’s such a small amount, you can’t even see it.” The point of how filthy their water is, which they are normally willing to drink, has been made.

Next, we do some mathematics. Community members say how much one pile would weigh (they came up with an average of 500g), how many times a day people defecate (3), and so how much shit is being produced by one person in a day, a week, a month, a year. At this point, the trainers joke around a bit, congratulating on how productive community members are to produce so many kilograms of shit.  The trainers ask how many members are in a household, calculate the kilograms; and how many households do not have latrines, calculate. The conclusion is that the community is opening themselves up to eat that many kilograms of shit every year!

Look how much shit one community can produce – and leave out for consumption.

The community naturally wants GOAL to build them latrines, but CLTS is about getting community members to be proactive in helping themselves. That’s why the triggering method is used. The community gives excuses, but GOAL stands firm that they are not there to give anything other than training. The conclusion is that each community household will dig a latrine, and they will help one another where necessary (such as for elderly or disabled community members). GOAL asks when they can come back to check on the progress, and the session is summed up.

Poor water, sanitation and hygiene are the major cause of disease. Disease is socially and economically debilitating. Many diseases and their consequences are preventable!

Good news!

A bit of background:  Normally when I receive a phone call, especially from an unknown number, somebody wants something. They have a need, they don’t know why I haven’t visited... legitimate points to raise, but can be a bit of an onslaught. I brace myself to see if I will even remember who they are and to give a prompt nice answer to explain why I haven’t fulfilled whatever it is I was ‘supposed’ to have done, and am unlikely to do so but they could try a, b, c.

 Culture:  Our good friend Joe read Bryan and I a funny story about a group of Africans asking a group of missionaries for drugs they didn’t need, and then throwing them in the bushes. They had asked for drugs to esteem the missionaries, because it’s a ‘privilege’ to be the go-to person.  So if I was a Ugandan I’d perhaps find all these calls a compliment.

I just got a phone call from an old friend. She is the mother of a girl ISA used to support. ‘Used to’ because the mum’s emotional, social and economic state was drastic and the girl was falling sick every time. Then one day, the mum came to us and said she’d like to take back full responsibility of her daughter, and that an aunt was going to help with school fees. We didn’t agree initially, and gave a little time to ensure the new living conditions were indeed steadied. We visited the new room she was staying in, the neighbours around, and confirmed the income available. The girl was now strong; the mum was now well and able... so after a bunch of paperwork and counselling the girl, the return of parental responsibility was made.

She ended up studying, along with her siblings, in a school where I used to teach – St Moses. She is still there, she is in boarding school, and the mum is going to visit for visitation day (the first Sunday of each month in most schools). The family no longer lives in Jinja, but has moved closer to the aunts and uncles. All have put their resources together to buy land and the construction of their home to be is already underway. She thanked me for being a friend during her hard times, and gave all glory to God for the complete change in her and in her situation since.

Now that’s a phone call I like to receive!

That’s the praise report, but let me expand on two points from that testimony:

1)      Boarding school is considered a good thing here. Parents like it because they feel their child will have good study discipline, achieve better results, and so have a better chance of future employment. Teachers like it because the children are on time for class, can attend evening classes, and aren’t distracted by household chores (especially girls) like fetching water and caring for babies.

2)      It was actually very difficult signing a child we’d cared for, who was part of the CARE4Kids family, back to her family. I definitely believe it is the right thing for a child to be with their family wherever possible! So I guess I was just saying that because doing the right and better thing still is hard where you have to detach yourself from someone you love.

New home

Though we’ve seen each other in Jinja, unexpectedly or for work, it has been months since Bryan and I have visited Pastor Hudson and Mercy Suubi. They were the first ones to tell me I’m going to have twins, when I visited CARE4Kids at the end of 2006, and so the beginning of the Wanyange kids naming me Nabirye (‘mother of twins’). In fact, it was at their house in 2008 that I met Bryan’s former directors and so had the chance to become acquainted with Bryan. You know the story from there…

Saturday night we enjoyed dinner and reunion with them and their family. They have five very healthy boys, and two girls who help with the house work in return for a home, a family, and schooling. Then Sunday we prayed from their church – Lugazi Miracle Centre – and were introduced (the church knows us individually) as the “newest Western couple in Uganda”. They were delighted to see us wedded and to hear that both our families were able to come out for the occasion.

That is the view of our entrance room / dining room / kitchen from the front door:

We are very comfortable and very well provided for (thank you God). It’s also a beautiful 30 minute walk back home from work in the evenings, with the setting sun glowing on the plants and herds. 

 

Last Friday, WMU Community Development had a meeting with GOAL. Among other works, GOAL does water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) trainings in rural communities. They do a very thorough work in inland villages. Fred (on the right) who does the micro-enterprise training came with me in Ritah’s place because she was sick. (Ritah is the one I’ve been doing WASH with, that’s her role in WMU.) Each organization shared their works with the other, gave feedback, and went away better informed of ways to do water development, mobilize communities, and with a potential partner for future projects.

My prayer request this week is not about myself, Bryan, or even Uganda, though they are all good things to pray for. This week I request you uplift my cousin David and second cousins Miriam and Hannah, who have just lost their wife and mother Sue to cancer. The funeral is this Thursday. I think you can all appreciate what a hard time this is for them. How much do you hate cancer! My dad and Uncle Bill (David’s father) have flown over, and I’m sure other relatives; please pray for them too. Thank you.

That’s my brief update, now you’ve seen our new home while it’s still new J

Best wishes upon you