Bringing Clean Water to Northern Uganda

It can be said that water is essential to life. Yet it many parts of the world, clean water is hard to come by. In the village of Adak in Northern Uganda, the long wait for clean water is now over, thanks to the help of a Bergen County-based global mission organization. On May 27, clean drinking water began flowing for the first time. 

"For years the people of Adak have been drinking, bathing, cooking and cleaning from an old borehole that had been tested and found to contain large traces of human feces and other forms of highly harmful bacteria," explained Jesse Kroeze, director of Touch the World Uganda. "Eighty percent of disease is caused by unclean water and lack of hygiene.  Many parts of the developing world still lack clean water and are plagued by something that we in the developed world actually take for granted.”

Adak, located in a poor rural region outside the town of Gulu in Northern Uganda, is home to Touch the World’s Dream Center project. The center teaches marketable job skills to the villagers. Sixty students recently graduated from a program in sewing and tailoring; a course in masonry and carpentry just began.  

Life in Northern Uganda can appear hopeless to many. As Touch the World explains: Northern Uganda had been left ravaged after Joseph Kony and his army, known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), started a mass genocide of the Acholi people back in 1987.  Kony and his soldiers began abducting young children and forcing them to do unimaginable acts of hostility in his self-proclaimed holy war.

The carnage ended some 20 years after the war began, but the Acholi people have been putting back the pieces of their broken homes, families, and lives ever since, the ministry group noted. Through the act of helping one another, partnering with organizations such as Touch the World, and forming lasting relationships, the Acholi people are slowly becoming whole again.

The process of bringing clean water to Adak was no easy undertaking, Kroeze noted.  First, a 131-foot deep borehole had to be drilled.  Next, a tall and sturdy water tower was built.  Trenches were dug to lay pipe from the new borehole to the water tower.   After the solar pump, solar panels, and a chlorination system were connected, the 10,000 liter tank was hoisted to the top of the water tower by rope.  All that was left was to wait for the sun to rise in order to test the system. 

On that day in late May, all had changed for Adak when the first sip of clean water was taken.  In addition to a traditional water tap, a drinking fountain was set up, possibly the first in the region. 

This is just the beginning of the plans Touch the Worls has for the village. A health center, community center, school, sports field, as well as many other necessities for the locals, are in the process of being built by staff of Touch the World Uganda, volunteers from America and the local village workers themselves. 

Kroeze, along with the rest of the missionaries in Uganda, and the villagers of Adak express their gratitude to all those in our area who have made this possible, “Thank you to all our supporters who have stood behind this endeavor and our vision to bring spiritual transformation, interdependency and sustainability to our community!”

Touch the World is currently looking for individuals, organizations, and businesses interested in helping raise awareness and establish income-generating projects in Adak to create long-term sustainability for development.  For more information please contact: JeremyM@touchtheworld.org

Based in Allendale, NJ, Touch the World is a non-profit organization that accomplishes community development projects and works with teens and adults in New Jersey by sending them on global mission trips.