As of recent we have reached our fund raising goals for a water system in Marale, Uganda. Praise God! In light of this we have asked Food for the Hungry to introduce us to another village that needs water. Now the name of our ride(The Ride for Marale) is more in commemoration of the first village God was able to help through us.
Allow me to introduce you to Piswa. Piswa is a village located on the slopes of Mt. Elgon in Eastern Uganda. The community members were displaced from
the forest when their lands were declared a National Game Park by the Ugandan government. The landscape is bare
from deforestation, and erosion has contaminated water sources and hindered farming practices. The community has
been isolated for many years without access to roads, health care, education or Christian training. Children suffer social
and emotional abuse as a result of debilitating cultural and traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. HIV/
AIDS is also growing in the region, while education about the disease is lacking. In general, fatalistic mindsets pervade
the community, and there is little hope for positive change. The incarnational staff has begun changing beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and practices of the people by partnering
with the church, family and community leaders. They engage in many programs that seek to end the cycle of poverty in
the community and provide hope.
We have been given the opportunity to lend a hand to the people of Piswa by raising 90% of the funds for a water system in the center of the village. As with Marale, Food for the Hungry has been working with the villagers to form a 9 person water committee that will oversee water issues for now on. Part of there job has been to work with the members the community to raise 10% of the funds for the water system and organize all the unskilled manual labor involved. In this way the water system will not be a "hand out" but the people of Piswa will have personal ownership in their new water system. About $5000 will help to bring the people of Piswa the clean water they need to continue developing as a community. It only takes $5 to provide a person in Piswa with clean water for the rest of their lives!
Awesome job so far guys! I have been enjoying the blog, and got inspired to ride a mile (...or 50) in your shoes by riding my bike to work a couple days this week :)
ReplyDeleteGreat news about the fund-raising goal already being met for Marale!!! Is there new information for donations to Piswa? Or would checks still be made payable as listed on the side of your blog?...
[Make the check out to:"Food for the Hungry" and put: "Ride Marale -EK2IAC0MC" in the memo]
I am very impressed in your climbing skills with just a few miles under you and all that gear - incredible! Stay safe and keep all the great blogging coming :)
-Nate Owens
Mt. Elgon is such a beautiful place and in general the people are Uganda are very welcoming. I spend a week in Kaptura, a village in the Mt. Elgon area. A week or two after my group's departure there was news of Mt. Elgon having a terrible mudslide leaving the area devastated and many people buried dead. You may want to find out how or if the mudslide impacted the village of Piswa. If you want to know any information about the area just ask and I'll tell you what I know. Glad to hear that you are doing well and enjoying yourselves! God bless.
ReplyDelete-Casie Carr-
Hey! Great job guys! I'm so happy that you were able to raise all of the funds for the first village and I will happily help with raising funds for the second. I'll match my donation that i gave for Marale. How do I make the donations? Good luck and please be safe!! I will talk to you soon.
ReplyDelete_Jen Bates