The TapStand: Volume 2 Edition 2

Part 1

TapStand: Volume 2 Edition 2 – Part 1

These past few months have felt like a whirlwind for us.  We want to pause and share with you where we have been, how we are responding right now, and where we are heading.  We feel that it is important to share this with you—now more than ever—because you are part of this journey.  Thanks for making this journey possible.

We met Julius on our trip to Kogabi, Uganda, three years ago. He was 12 years old and fetched water about five times a day from the creek down a steep hill. The distance was short but the hill was rugged, and the jerry can he carried was brutally heavy. His three younger siblings came with him too, but as the oldest child in his family, it fell on him to

collect the majority of the water needed.

At that time, we truthfully did not know if we were going to be able to come alongside Julius anytime soon, as the project was beyond anything we had raised before.

But you stepped in and gave in ways that we never imagined or thought possible. We broke ground in Kogabi on September 2019, the taps turned on by December 2019, and the project was commissioned this past March as the whole system finished up. Perfect timing.

Julius is lifting his water container above his head to collect water

March 9

Just this past March we went back to Kogabi for the commissioning of this entire system. As we watched the celebrations, we

saw Julius dance with hundreds of other kids from his school as they marked the day that 6000L of clean water began to flow from each tap to their village high up in the hills of Kogabi.

March 22

The ironic timing of World Water Day was not lost on us. Over the past 30 years, we have experienced our supporters stepping up to participate in giving and celebrating clean water. But this one would have to look different than the past World Water Days. Would we really be asking for support at a time like this? Could we afford not to?

We thought of Julius, and how just 10 days before, we were celebrating what felt like a wedding, full of hope and joy in Uganda, and we wondered how that clean water might matter more than ever in the weeks ahead. This is what we are made for: Clean water when it matters most.

You stepped up again.

We saw one of the highest ever responses to a World Water Day initiative. In the midst of one of the most uncertain weeks of our generation, you reached out in such generosity and love. We cannot thank you enough.

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