Team of 12 including 7 Americans and 5 Ugandans completes St John’s water project
For two weeks in mid-July, a team of seven NuWaterWorks volunteers traveled to East Africa to execute phase 2 of a much-needed water project at St John’s Primary School in central Uganda. The team consisted of Jeremiah Watson, NuWaterWorks manager and utility contractor, Stephen Carver, NuWaterWorks project manager and plumbing expert, Josh De Las Casas, NuWaterWorks assistant project manager and utility contractor, Matthew Webb, security specialist with utility experience, James Lasater, solar expert, Nick Moore, medical professional and mechanic, and Aimee De Las Casas, hospitality liaison.
The US team was joined by five Ugandans on the ground. Francis Lubega, groundskeeper for G.O.D. headquarters in East Africa, ensured all tools needed were available and acted as cultural liaison in helping the team purchase materials. Samuel, who works with NuWaterWorks East Africa, and Francis’ niece Annet both helped the team with labor daily. Peter Kimbugwe’s son Barnabas and Francis’ son Victor both shadowed James learning how to work with solar energy. It was an all-star team!
Team goal of getting pumped water to primary students accomplished
The goal of the project was to provide pumped water for St John’s elementary-aged students to no longer have to fetch water off property daily. The cistern that was built earlier in the year collects rainwater for the students, but this is mostly helpful during rainy seasons, and it has only been capturing enough to meet about 30 percent of their water needs.
The team set up a solar pump that pumps water from one of the water towers on G.O.D. headquarters property (which neighbors the school) to the water cistern at St John’s Primary. With this new set up, the school admin is able to flip a switch and pump water into the cistern, alleviating the students from spending hours of their school day fetching water. Praise God!