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Water is life: Local man reports on Uganda's needs

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Contributed by: Steve Lowry on 8/22/2007

Next time you complain about your water bill, consider what the average rural Ugandan faces:

* The fortunate 60 percent "only" have to travel a mile or less to get "clean" water, not a few feet to a faucet
* The daily supply per person is about four gallons, not our 110 gallons
* Water costs up to 8 percent of income in good times, double that in dry spells, not our 0.5 percent
* Up to four hours a day is spent hauling water, not the few minutes we spend to open a faucet
* The less fortunate 40 percent that have don't have access to clean water have to think about that water being a leading cause of a child mortality rate of nearly 140 out of every 1000 children, not the 7 per 1000 in the US (nearly none due to drinking water)

These are some of the statistics that Steve Lowry of Littleton learned while on a recent Scoping Study as a Water Corps Volunteer for Water For People, a Denver-based nonprofit organization.

The trip was made possible in part due to generous contributions from readers of YourHub.com. Mr. Lowry and two colleagues visited with officials of the Government of Uganda, representatives of USAID, the World Bank, CARE and numerous other non-governmental organizations. They were also able to meet with many locally based organizations and to travel throughout much of the country.

Although there is a great need to improve water, sanitation and health services, the team was impressed with the ability and spirit of the people. There are a large number of locally organized community organizations that are efficiently utilizing available resources. Uganda ranks very high in the area of making good use of outside funds to build sustainable projects.

The Water Corps team submitted a report to the WFP Board of Directors in June. They made a decision to add Uganda to the WFP program in the next two years, funds permitting. The additional investment of up to $1million per year could provide about 30,000 people with services and significantly reduce infant and child mortality.

The World Bank representative in Uganda estimates that for every $1 invested in the water and sanitation sector there is a return to the country of $30 in terms of increased productivity, lowered health care costs, new employment and similar factors.

Mr. Lowry would like to personally thank the YourHub.com readers who made donations toward the expenses of the trip. He encourages people to continue to participate, either by making donations to Water For People, volunteering or touring the area. Coloradans would feel at home in a country that has mountains up to 16,000 feet high, a diversity of wildlife, national parks, opportunities for white water rafting and a population that is English speaking, well educated, and welcoming to visitors.

Editor's note

To read the story Steve wrote before he left on his trip, see Seeking clean water in the Pearl of Africa.

Steve Lowry was a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana in the early 1970's. That experience showed him the difference that clean, accessible water can make. After he returned to he US, he designed and constructed community water systems for the Indian Health Service in Montana. Since 1980 he has been a water resources engineer based in the Denver area. During his career he has spent nearly 10 years living overseas in countries such as Zambia, Egypt, and the Philippines.

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Submitted By: Fairlight Baer-Gutierrez

posted on 8/22/2007 @ 4:52:09 PM

Rated Story

Thank you for sharing your experience, Steve.

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