No amount of training and crop rotation can get results without the right foundations. Our sustainable, environmentally friendly programme provides the infrastructure that our communities need to succeed.

Water

We endeavour to install a borehole in every community in which we work.

67% of Ugandans live without access to clean water. Women and children spend hours carrying heavy jerry cans from boreholes; children often miss school as they are collecting water, and they are at risk of assault when collecting water after dark. Clean water improves: 

• health - incidence of waterborne illnesses drops dramatically

• learning outcomes - children can do their homework instead of collecting water and don’t miss school because they are spending hours at the borehole.

• income - water means healthier people and livestock, which means healthier profits.

• harmony - amazingly, access to clean water sees reduced domestic violence. What’s more, the time saved collecting water provides additional family time, which improves family relationships.

• sustainability - each household pays 25p a month for water drawn from the borehole. This fund is used for any future repairs, enabling a borehole to be sustainable. The by-product of the repair fund allows the community to set up their own microfinance loan scheme, as there will be no repairs needed in the first few years. As the repair pot grows, members of the community can apply for small business loans from the borehole repair pot. Interest on repayments allows the pot to grow. Members of the community can pay in more than 25p a month if they wish, allowing the village to have a little savings bank right at the heart of their own community. 

Sustainable Technologies

A host of sustainable technologies help to combat climate change, fight the devastating effects of mass deforestation, and improve health:

• Energy efficient stoves use 60% less wood than a traditional fire and improve health outcomes by reducing smoke inhalation

• Tippy taps are simple to construct using readily available materials, and provide improved access to clean water in the home.

Hygiene Training

Hygiene training goes hand in hand with improving access to clean water and vastly improves the life expectancy of the communities in which we work.

• Soap making – liquid and solid soapmaking lessons improve hygiene.

• Drying racks provide a hygienic means to dry crockery, reducing illness and the spread of disease.

• Pit latrines – many households don’t have a toilet and, instead, openly defecate. Our Community Led Total Sanitation training fights open defecation and rapidly reduces disease by encouraging entire communities to dig pit latrines for themselves, as well as other vulnerable people in their community.