The Gay Lea Foundation
Thank you so much for your partnership with Acts for Water this year.
It has had a profound and long-lasting impact, both on us and on thousands of Ugandans!
Most recently, your contribution towards the Kicuzi Project (including Muhaha and Kisabo) has meant that more people are now able to experience clean, fresh water: for life. This project signifies the beginning of the end of our three-year journey in this region. When complete, over 16,000 people will have access to the life-giving gift of clean water, latrines at their schools and some of the best hygiene and sanitation training in the world.
The power of this gift: a simple tap stand, flowing 6,000 litres of clean, fresh water every day is profound. The implications of this reach far beyond the data points listed below – for young girls, it means the doors to education open for the very first time; for women, it means they can start earning an income rather than spend an average of 6 hours a day dealing with water poverty; for families, it means the option to save their money rather than spend it on medication to treat typhoid or other water-related illnesses. Your gift means a community beginning to thrive!
When we began this three-phase project a few years ago, it seemed like an impossible undertaking. But now, with two phases under our belt, we look forward—with anticipation—towards a future filled with clean water.
What’s in a Name?
Over the past three years, we’ve been partnering with people like you to complete the most comprehensive water projects we’ve ever done. Unfortunately, when it comes to fundraising for them, we haven’t always gotten the names as clear as we’d like. We wrote a short blog post explaining the confusion HERE.
Here are some of our favourite moments from this project, so far – moments of progress, of hope, of partnership that you helped make possible.
Your Contributions to Acts for Water this year are helping:
500 people receive
6,000 litres of fresh clean water every day
from 1 tap stand
across 1 community in Southwest Uganda
Every. Single. Day. Thank you.
DRAG THE SLIDER TO SEE THE BEFORE & AFTER
Meet Prossy
Since she could remember, Prossy, a young student from the village of Kizuzi, would walk many kilometres a day to fetch water. As a female, she was two times more likely to make this journey than her male peers at school. Prossy would spend hours walking on unfinished roads only to receive water from a stream that was shared with animals and other humans who also drank and bathed in it. Days of school were often missed due to this walk for water or because of contracting water-related diseases like typhoid and diarrhoea. And when Prossy was in school, she would often be unable to focus or study well because of dehydration.
That’s when Gay Lea stepped in and partnered with Acts for Water to help bring clean, safe and accessible water to the community of Kicuzi. Because of Gay Lea’s support, Prossy can now access clean water right outside of her school! Here’s what she has to say in response to your support,
“I want to thank Acts as an organisation for bringing clean water near our school. If I would forget to pack water for drinking from home, I could spend the whole day at school without anything to drink and this had been causing me dizziness and affecting my studies as well. But since now the water is here, I will study well and pass my exams! Thank you so much Acts.”
– Prossy, Acts for Water Beneficiary
Prossy now has the opportunity to focus on her school work and study well for the bright future ahead of her. No more time or energy has to be wasted on water that robs her of health or education. None of this hope or change in Prossy’s life would have been possible without Gay Lea’s overwhelming generosity in supporting our Kicuzi project.Thank you so much for partnering with us in this better way to give clean water.
PICTURES FROM MUHAHA (the latest project you’ve helped fund)
View the project you’ve been a part of!
“It is a challenge for me to retrieve water because I live up on the hill and I walk so far down to get water. This takes me 2 hours and the water I do fetch is dirty. I don’t do much for myself because I am weakened by the hill to fetch water. But I am so happy for the good news that Acts has brought to us by giving clean water that I can access close to home! Thank you very much!”
“We were using and drinking contaminated water from dirty swamps. We had challenges as women to garden – no drop of water at home yet we had to cover a distance of an hour to get water. Since Acts came, they built a water system near our homes. Now that I have just come from the garden, I will fetch water and shortly prepare lunch so that my children find it ready. Acts has also taught us health hygiene and sanitation which has made us improve our lives and this has saved much costs from us for hospitals. We could not drink our usual water without boiling because of much dirt, but we are thankful for constructing clean and safe water that doesn’t require us to boil. You have still saved us from firewood! Thank you for bringing us clean water.”
“Thank you for coming to Uganda to bring clean water to us! As a Christian and a leader at Kagyera Catholic Church, I’m so happy because we could not hold meetings, seminars…we couldn’t hold all those services because of fear of not having water at or nearby church. But now, we have even started planning this year to hold different seminars and have visitors because everything will go well because there’s water right away at church!”
CLEAN WATER
The Gay Lea Foundation has directly contributed towards the provision of clean, disease-free water to 500 people this year.
SOAP & HANDWASHING
The number of households practicing handwashing in the current phase of this project has increased by 216%! Together with 10 soap making workshops already conducted, we expect the occurrence of waterborne diseases to continue to drop dramatically as time progresses.
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
More latrines have been built in this catchment area than any other! 9 latrines now serve over 1,000 kids, meaning more girls can attend school instead of spending their day walking for water and missing out on equal access to education.
FARMING
Women in Uganda spend on average 8 hours a day gardening to earn an income. This means the hours for fetching water are often the dark, early hours before dawn and after dusk, leaving them vulnerable. With access to clean water, they can now safely devote those hours to their family’s health and thriving.
Hear what these beneficiaries have to say about the impact of clean water on their lives!
Read our Project Impact Report here.