Relief for Uganda: the promise of life, one glass of water at a time

Children in Wakawaka, Uganda enjoying clean water. Photo credit: Water Missions International

Landlocked by Kenya, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania, Uganda has seen more than its fair share of the violence that long plagued central Africa. Mass killings and civil wars displaced hundreds of thousands of people, while claiming the lives of tens of thousands more.

After a 2006 peace treaty, Ugandans finally could return to their villages, only to face another struggle for survival. With several decades of devastating conflict finally behind them, Ugandans are facing a silent threat in the form of deadly bacteria in their water.

“The greater the poverty you’re working with, the harder it can be,” Water Missions International Vice President George Greene told MediaGlobal.  Securing access to fresh water is a constant struggle for many Ugandans. “There are water projects that are littering Uganda,” said Greene. “We couldn’t play around with these people.”

Greene’s non-profit organization was established in 1998 by his parents, who wanted to help Hondurans in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. In 2005, they established a chapter in Uganda to help them with their water and sanitation needs. Their unique engineering innovations have so far helped thousands find plausible sustainable solution to the water crisis.

While taking a different approach in helping the Ugandan water problem, Three Avocados, has made it a mission to exchange one product for another: coffee for water. Founded by Joseph Koenig, who after his first traveled to the country three years ago, was immediately impacted after witnessing the daily life in remote villages such as Buloba. His company donates 100 percent of the net proceeds toward that mission.

“I first went with a church group that goes twice a year, and I saw that young girls were traveling miles in order to get clean water,” Koenig tells MediaGlobal. “Since they are in charge of keeping the household they didn’t go to school.”

According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Ugandan children are often the bread-winners of the family, and with that responsibility comes the task of fetching water, a job that requires them to walk more than four to five miles daily.   Time these children could be dedicating to school.

While Ugandans suffer from immediate access to clean water, they are not alone. An estimated one billion people around the globe lack clean water, while approximately 63 children die each day because of its insufficiency.

Koenig’s innovative idea of selling Ugandan coffee to provide fresh water came after debating other ways to provide the financial needs to implement a sustainable and lasting water program. “There were so many different products, women making paper beads or jewelry,” he said. “We were walking around and one of the farmers told us that coffee was their ‘cash crop,’” he said enthusiastically.

“The idea is to match up the source of the coffee to where the profit is going back to, instead of money going into the shareholder’s pocket it’s going into bringing water to people,” Koenig said. After experiencing a few hurdles at the beginning of his plan, Three Avocados is now providing Ugandan coffee to not only online shoppers, but stocking shelves in local markets in its base city of St. Louis: “The goal is to have it available in each grocery store.”

With organizations like Water Missions International and Three Avocados, working to help Ugandans by securing their children’s future, their hard work and water solutions have already proven successful. “Children are healthy and attending school more,” said Greene, a result that has been duplicated by the efforts of Koenig’s organization.

The threat of war still looms large over Uganda. From South Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo, as these countries continue to struggle with civil war.  The imminent dangers have not deterred either Greene or Koenig from pushing forward with their plans to help Uganda. “It’s about working toward that passion instead of working toward that paycheck,” said Koenig.