£88,000 secured to develop eight clean water projects in Uganda

Over the past 13 years the group has worked tirelessly raising over £1m to support the Fields of Life water drilling operation which has dug almost 1,000 boreholes across Uganda.

It’s a commitment that has delivered the life saving gift of clean water to thousands of people in a country where access to this life-giving resource is truly precious.

These projects have fundamentally improved the way-of-life within communities where, up to now, securing access to water has been a very parlous undertaking.

Many women and children have the hardship of walking miles every day in search of water.

Very often they are forced to collect dirty water from rivers and streams, shared with animals, suffering illnessand fatigue. Women and young girls are often vulnerable to attack while walking the long dangerous journey.

But, thankfully, all of this is fast changing for some communities, thanks to the commitment shown by the Water for Life team and the Fields of Life team in East Africa.

The drilling of new wells close to villages means that fresh, clean water can now be easily sourced. This development alone is helping to improve the overall prospects of everyone benefitting from these fundamentally important community development projects.

Health and nutrition outcomes are improved overnight. But it also means that children can now attend school on a daily basis, rather than start their days with a danger-filled walk.

Two well drilling units in Uganda originally boughtwith the Water for Life funds raised plus the expertise of a local hydrologist and drilling teamcombine to find the most suitable water source in the vicinity of communities throughout the country. But it requires additional investment to establish new wells in the many Ugandan communities still in need of a safe drinking water source.

So much for the background: the good news here is that Northern Ireland’s farming and food communities can always be relied on to go that extra mile for a cause that gives genuine hope for people seeking to get that decent shot at life, which we all deserve.

It won’t come as total shock then to learn that 500 people, many with a strong association with the farming and food sector, attended a recent a Water for Life fund raiser. The event organised by the team was held in Armagh’s City Hotel. It was a truly amazing evening with the combined dinner, charity auction and other fund raising activities securing over £88,000 for the Fields of Life drilling operation.

The money will be used to establish eight new fresh waterwells in north westf Uganda where over 41% of the population live without access to clean water.

The list of items catalogued for the charity was truly eclectic with llamas, suckler cow and calf and a weekend in Paris as just some of the attractions going under the auctioneer’s gavel.

The water for Life team want to express a huge thanks to all those that attended the event and were so generous. Yet the best news is that eight more villages in Uganda will be getting fresh water locally in spring 2025.

Pictured: The members of the Water for Life Team attending the recent fund raising event in Armagh: Richard Moore, Angus Wilson, Helen Darcy (Fields of Life), Neville Woods, May Woods and Roy Lyttle