Today was the first day we got to spend time in our Uganda office. Run by Robert Khakhosi--called Robbs for short--it is the home base for all seventeen of our Ugandan projects. Robbs decorates the walls of the office with lists of our projects and photos from each one. We are paying for his computer and adult education courses. His wife is nine months pregnant.
After some time with Robbs and his family, we were off to the Jewish community of Uganda to celebrate Shabbat. They practically attacked us on our arrival, dressing us in traditional clothes and singing songs they had written about the work we’ve done in their community.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we have been able to power their school, synagogue, poultry farm, community center, water pumping system and ten individual homes. Children and adults can now study into the evening with light in their classrooms. Chickens eat more at night now that they have light, causing them to become more valuable at local markets. They have already sold their first flock, bringing much needed income back to the community.
The synagogue lights give the Jewish Community a place to gather and to pray. And the water pumping system provides clean water for the first time to over 1,000 families.
Dirty water causes 80% of death and disease in the developing world. The Jewish Community and surrounding village will never again need to fear water borne disease, all because of our solar powered water pumping system.
Shabbat was beautiful. We sang and danced with the community underneath the lights that our solar panels have made possible, enjoying the benefits of solar energy together as we prayed, ate and shared stories around the Shabbat table.