Projects / Water School
As a single mom to two young children and the sole caretaker of a large farm with pigs and lots of crops, Esther works hard. Every day, Esther carried three full jerry cans of water from a freshwater stream back to her home. This water sustains her children and keeps them clean. The water is also essential to helping her animals and plants to thrive so she can sell them in the local marketplace. Esther tried to carry 60 litres of water back to her home every day — but it wasn’t enough. Slowly but surely, Esther was forced to give up her animals and crops because she couldn’t collect enough water.
Women in Uganda spend an average of 36 hours a week walking to fetch clean water. They walk dangerous roads and waste precious time that could be put towards caring for their families, going to school, or working. When WaterSchool’s team installed a Rainwater Harvesting Tank at Esther’s home a few months ago, her life began to change.
Now, as the spring rains fall from the sky in Uganda, a 6,000 litre reservoir of fresh, clean, safe water is available for Esther and her family. Located right behind her house, the Rainwater Harvesting Tank has enabled Esther to restart her farm and stock it full of pigs and goats.
Her business is thriving, her children are healthy, and Esther no longer has to worry about the long walk for water.
Rainwater harvesting is especially crucial in mountainous areas, like southwestern Uganda. Water runs downhill. People tend to live up the sides of the valleys, where mudslide risk is less. So, in the 2 dry seasons, women and children have to climb down steep paths to collect water (always contaminated) and then carry it back up the mountains. Collecting rainwater (clean) at the top of the mountain gives the family a safe supply of water for the dry season, eliminating about 5 hours of strenuous work each day. Magic!
But of course this takes money. We have figured out that the optimal way to do this is to build 6,000 litre tanks locally from stones and cement. These tanks are relatively inexpensive, durable, repairable, and the activity creates a new cottage industry.
Fight N Fit proposes to launch an After-School Boxing Program. It is our belief that a program of this kind will provide an outlet to engage and advocate for increased physical activity in the youth,
The Schoolhouse for Special Needs Inc. (The Schoolhouse) was first established in 2006 with a modest group of students operating from the residence of its Founder, Yasmin Vlahakis.
During 2016 the trust approached UNICEF in Switzerland to collaborate on implementing an initiative to assist children in need, be it Syria, Yemen or in other places such as Nepal, which is still suffering from the earthquakes of 2015.
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