To raise £8,000 to kick start an urgently needed clean water project in Uganda and improve the lives of hundreds of villagers like Carol.
by [email protected] in
Any money that we raise beyond our target will still go to back our Kayabwe Village project - it just means that the process of match funding becomes so much easier, and that we can greenlight the project quicker and get moving... and when a child dies every 20 seconds from dirty water, speed really does matter.
Thanks to wonderful support from our crowd, we have managed to raise £8k already, which will allow us to secure match funding to commit to a £17,000 project and make a difference to almost 1,000 people in Kayabwe!
We have a few days to go past this target and make even more of a dent in the overall costs - anything we raise will benefit the village, so it is not too late to be part of the Kayabwe team!
Globally, a child dies every 20 seconds because of dirty water and in Kayabwe, dysentry, typhoid, malaria and severe skin infections all result from contaminated water.
Together we can change this.
"It...makes you ashamed how much we take for granted. We never give something like water a second thought. It's a colossal luxury and it's important to remember that." Alexander Armstrong, Patron of Just a Drop in 'Weekend' magazine.
Investment fund manager and city ‘Superwoman’ Nicola Horlick is also proud to be backing our crowdfund campaign.
Nicola says: “I feel privileged to get involved in such an important campaign and I’m looking forward to working with Just a Drop to drive awareness of the problem and begin to make a difference. As a Mum, this issue hits home hard and I want to do everything I can to contribute to bringing clean water to children, to help keep them healthy and happy.”
Quite simply - your help to raise money will change lives. the more money we have, the quicker we can help because every second counts when a community faces a daily struggle to find clean water.
We are lucky enough to live in a country where we can obtain water from a tap.
In Kayabwe, children like Carol walk miles daily, carrying heavy water containers across dangerous ground, knowing that the water they have so painstakingly collected is likely to make their families sick.
Our project will bring clean water and safe sanitation to the village through the combination of shallow wells, rainwater harvesting tanks and latrines that will change lives.
Carol is typical of the girls in her community of Kayabwe, near the Ugandan equator. Her family are subsistence farmers earning less than a dollar a day in one of the poorest countries in the world - their community relying upon contaminated ponds and swamps as their water source. Every day, it has been Carol's task to fill her 18 litre container from the same small, dirty pond that the cattle use. She and her friends are scared of coming to the water source, especially at night, not just because of their fear of falling into the water hole in the dark, but because of the very real danger of attack by men and animals.
A year ago, our project manager, Melissa Campbell saw the village for herself and couldn't help compare Carol's life to that of her own daughters.
"It was very sobering comparing (my girls) lives to Carol's. Their chores at home - laying the table, walking the dog or clearing up the endless piles of lego strewn over the floor - cannot begin to compare with Carol's daily tasks, especially the daily walk she has to do two or three times a day. I tried lifting Carol's jerry can when it was full of water and it was incredibly heavy for a young girl to carry. I dread to think how the weight of the water will compress her growing spine. I cannot imagine my children having to carry that much water such a long distance several times a day."
Happily, Carol and her family were some of the first to benefit from Just a Drop's involvement in the community of Kayabwe, and can now access clean water and sanitation, but a staggering 76% of the Kayabwe villagers remain reliant upon swamps and contaminated ponds as a water source.
There is a school - but Kayabwe children have to study all day without food or water to sustain them.
Kayabwe Village wants to improve its water and sanitation, and their enthusiastic participation at all stages of the project is essential for the long term success of the scheme. Not only do they pledge to provide the land, labour and support during contruction, but they are committed to training villagers to maintain and operate the system when it is complete.
Please support Kayabwe Village and help make this happen.
Just a Drop is an international water aid registered charity with a mission to reduce child mortality by delivering accessible, clean, safe water where it is needed most. To date, we have provided clean, safe water to some of the poorest communities in 31 countries worldwide.
"Water is the essence of life, without clean water, life is an endless struggle, with it, almost anything is possible. Just a Drop literally breathes new life and gives hope to communities where there was none." Colonel Blashford Snell, OBE, Hon. President of Just a Drop.
We operate with a handful of full time staff and the passionate support of an army of volunteers, many of whom are retired military officers and water engineers with extensive experience on global water development projects. Our focus is on sustainable projects - ones that have the full support of the community they benefit, which are technically appropriate and which can benefit the village for years to come.
Our model of well-planned, sustainable projects means that just £1 with Just a Drop can bring clean water to a child for 10 years. In Kayabwe, our project will benefit over 900 villagers, and radically improve their lives and futures.
Our engineers and the Kayabwe villagers have designed a project to focus on building two shallow wells in the village, 5 latrines and 5 rainwater harvesting tanks as well as supplying Faith Memorial Nursery and Boarding School with its own water tank. This will improve access to clean water for the community by 30% by the end of 2015, reducing water related diseases within a year!
To give you an idea of what each donation contributes;
How much of the money raised will go direct to the project?
Just a Drop is a very efficient small organisation, and 75% of the money that we raise goes to our projects, the remaining 25% accounting for our overheads.
How do I donate?
Simply press the 'pledge' button at the top of the page and you will be directed to PayPal. We will receive notification of your donation and send you a thank you!
What happens if we don't hit our target?
First of all - let's make sure that doesn't happen, by telling all our friends about how we can change lives in Kayabwe! If it does happen though - Crowdfunder is an 'all or nothing' funding device, so unfortunately, if we don't hit £8,000 we will have to refund your money, thank you for your interest, and seek out another way to help the people of Carol's village. In this case we would be unable to send you the rewards listed, but would be happy to send you an update on our continuing fundraising for clean water.
What happens if we raise more than our target?
Then we will set a stretch target and will be able to help Kayabwe even quicker because we won't have to find further sponsors!
What happens if we raise more money than the project requires?
Money raised above the project cost of £17,000 will be allocated to one of our other many clean water projects in Uganda, India, Kenya or Cambodia which are awaiting funding.
When will I receive my reward?
We will send out rewards as soon as the target is reached and the Crowdfund is over, as the Crowdfund lasts 42 days, we anticipate all rewards will be received by the end of July.
Can my reward be delivered to an address outside of the UK?
As a charity we need to keep our costs down and so cannot guarantee to be able to send rewards outside of the UK. If you would like to contact us on [email protected], we may be able to arrange overseas delivery at a minimal additonal charge.
Is Just a Drop a registered charity?
Yes, Just a Drop is a registered charity. Registered Charity No 1100505.
I have other questions - how can I contact someone?
Please drop the Project Manager, Jo a line on [email protected] with any queries.
This project offers rewards in return for your donation. Please select a reward below.