WATSAN Uganda Trip 2024: Pre-trip Blog.

Welcome!

Our hopes for this blog is that it will both inform and inspire readers as we communicate our experiences with friends and family as we go. We acknowledge what a great privilege it is to embark on this trip and thank God for the opportunity to experience such interesting and wonderful country. We are so thankful for the hard work of James Hunt and Ian Bensted who have organised the trip and spent many hours in preparation; equally, we are very grateful to many of those who have given financially towards making it possible. We are now in the final days of preparation and eagerly await adventure to come!

Read on for the first (and longest!) blog. See below A) Introduction to our trip + itinerary, B) Meet the team + fund ratings antics, C) Points of interest about Uganda and finally our requests to those who would like to join us in prayer.

A) Introduction to the Trip

(Thank you to James Hunt & Ian Bensted for putting this information together. Photos taken from WATSAN Uganda 2017 Trip).

Primarily, our trip to Uganda will be to learn from, experience and contribute to the work of a water and sanitation programme (WATSAN) in south west Uganda. The project seeks to implement a community-based water and sanitation project with Ugandan partners in North Kigezi and Kinkiizi Dioceses. The aim is to enable people in the rural community of Kazuru, a remote part of south-west Uganda, to lift themselves out of poverty by substantially reducing water-borne and other water-related disease. This incorporates a comprehensive programme of construction, outreach, education and community empowerment.

WATSAN is a UK charity dedicated to the support of a water and sanitation programme in South West Uganda. Thanks to WATSAN’s work, people in rural communities have access to life-saving clean water and hygienic toilet facilities.

Learn more about the work of WATSAN here and enjoy this video introduction to their work.

During our stay in Uganda we will visit WATSAN schemes, build relationships through church connections, assist with educational activities and partake in part of the construction of pipework for the gravity flow scheme. But alongside this we also very much look forward to developing friendships with the people who are involved in and impacted by the projects. WATSAN have the great privilege of long term friendship with many within the local church dioceses, with whom we will have the joy of by hosted by during our stay.

As christians we believe that under the grace of God, through Christ, Gods people exist as one family, brothers and sisters united together by a shared faith. We therefore see our friends in Uganda as family and we look forward to sharing time with them and a little of our lives as we encourage one another in the work that is set before us.

See below a brief itinerary:

Travel UK to Uganda, Aug. 15th - 17th

• Team of 21 leave London, Heathrow for Entebbe, via Doha, with Qatar Airways.

• Overnight at Whitecrest Guest House, Kampala. Travel SW to Rukungiri, crossing the Equator en route!

  

Rukungiri District, Aug. 18th – 21st

• Dinner with the Ugandan WATSAN team, join in with Sunday Services and Worship: Kinyasano Cathedral, Kitazigurukwa Church and Kinyasano Girl’s High School.

• Visit existing and proposed gravity flow projects, Kisiizi Hospital, two previous school projects and low yield springs. Dinner at the Bishop of North Kigezi’s residence.

  

Kanungu District, Aug. 21st– 28th

• Travel to Ngoto Island Resort, near Kanungu, for 7-night stay

• Briefings and Official Launch of Kazuru gravity flow scheme, tour and involvement in construction work.

• Visit Batwa (Pygmy) settlement and Nursery School.

• Chimpanzee trek in the Bwindi Impenetrable forest from which the Batwa were displaced.

• Join in Sunday worship in Cathedral, two parish churches and a Catholic church.

• Visit Bwindi Hospital and Nursing School. Dinner at the Bishop of KInkiizi’s residence in Kanungu.

Safari, Aug. 28th – 30th

• Travel via Kanungu to Fort Portal, overnight at Mountains of the Moon Hotel.

• Visit top of Murchison Falls Two nights at Pakuba Safari Lodge. Evening and morning game drives in the National Park, and boat safari to the base of the Nile.

Travel Uganda to UK Aug. 31st– Sept. 2nd

• Early morning return to Kampala. Sightseeing in Entebbe and Kampala. Overnight at Whitecrest.

• Evening flights home with Qatar Airways via Doha to London, Gatwick.

B) Meet the Team + fund raising antics

We are a mixed team from across Hampshire, Oxford and London; brought together by friendship and church connections. A large portion of our team belong to St Peter’s Bishops Waltham and St John’s Locks Heath. Amongst us we have a vicar, an engineer, nurse, business woman and a handful currently working in government!

Here’s a picture of us on one of our preparation days:

Top row left to right as follows: Liz Cope, Clair Alcock, Isobel Humphrey, Ruby Smyth, Kate Smyth, Edward James, William Hunt, Abby Hunnings, Lydia Hunt, Henry Dixon-Clegg.
Bottom row left to right as follows: Ben Collins-Gilchrist, Trevor Pritchard, (Dan - sadly won’t be joining us this time), James Hunt, Ian Bensted, Freddie Boase and Sam Hunt.
Not pictured but never the less valued members: Sarah Ashford, Ella Wheelcock, Karen Deacon and Nick Alcock!

As a team we have been fundraising to pay our own travelling costs and also for a contribution towards the project. This has included a cycle round the Isle of Wight, lots of painting and decorating, airport taxi service, half marathons, quiz nights, fine dining and sing along evenings! See some pics below:

C) Uganda Points of Interest

Finally we wanted to give you a little taste of Uganda as a country, both in historical and geographical context. Read on for a brief but useful summary!

(Thank you to Ian Bensted for putting this information together)

Brief history

1. Britain granted independence to Uganda in a wholly peaceful process in 1962.

2. A military coup in 1971 installed Idi Amin as a military dictatorship until 1979 when he was removed from power by Tanzanian armed forces.

3. After a period of instability, the country was taken over in 1986 by the National Resistance Army (NRA) of Yoweri Museveni.

4. Museveni remains President to this day, having overcome a number of rebel groups, especially in the north and east of the country. He came originally from the SW of the country.

5. Comparative peace has prevailed since 1994 and Museveni has been reelected every 5 years since 1986, most recently in 2021.

6.The WATSAN project began under WaterAid in 1987 and was handed over to local management in the year 2000. UK support was re-established in 2004.

Brief geography

1. The population of Uganda is now 46 million, having doubled every 20 years or so since independence. The country is land-locked, surrounded by Kenya to the east, South Sudan to the north and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the west. Rukungiri (350,000) and Kanungu (240,000) are two of the 136 districts in Uganda.

2. Located in the south-west, just south of the Equator, Rukungiri is some 240 miles by road from Kampala along the Trans-African Highway, via Mbarara. Originally on district known as North Kigezi, Rukungiri and Kanungu are north-south strips touching Lake Edward in the north, with Kanungu to the west along the border with the DRC.

3. There are two wet seasons (March – May and Sept. –Dec.), and two dry seasons each year. Rukungiri is 5400 ft. above sea-level and hence relatively cool at 15 – 22C. It receives less annual rainfall than the dryest parts of the UK, mostly in often heavy early afternoon showers. There could be some in August!

4. The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is situated in Kanungu District on the border with DRC. 124 sq. miles. and mountainous up to 8,500 ft., it is only accessible on foot. A UNESCO Heritage site, it is the home of many endangered species, and a sanctuary for colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, and half the world’s population of mountain gorillas. Ngoto Island resort is nearby.

5. Lake Victoria, which is half the size of England, is the source of the River Nile, which, often known as the White Nile, flows north-westwards through Uganda and over Murchison Falls into Lake Albert, and then northwards into South Sudan. Features of western Uganda are the Rift Valley in which lie Lake Edward and Lake Albert, the Kigesi Game Reserve and the Queen Elizabeth National Park, also the Ruwenzori mountains, including Mount Stanley (5109 m. 16,763 ft.). The Kigezi Hills around and between Rukungiri and Kanungu are foothills of the Rwenzoris to the north, west of the town of Fort Portal.

Requests for prayer:

As Christians we trust in God for our protection, provision and guidance. We thank Him for the opportunity to embark on and navigate this exciting trip to Uganda. We will therefore end each blog post with prayer requests as an acknowledgement of His majesty over all things and our reliance on His daily mercy. Do join us in prayer.

Our tour prayer: Father, please help me to live this day to the full, being true to You in every way. Jesus help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Holy Spirit, help me to love those who are lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. AMEN

1. Please pray for our safety, internal integration within the team, and with our Ugandan hosts, a life- changing experience for many who have never been to sus-Saharan Africa before.

2. For the target project, Kazuru gravity flow project, amongst the poorest of communities close to the Congo border.

3. And for our Christian witness generally at the many informal gatherings and conversations, as well as on Sundays at services of worship. We want to pray that Christ would be glorified in all that we do.

And that’s you made it to the end of what we promise will be the longest of these blogs! We are very much looking forward to embarking on this adventure, forming friendships and serving the work of WATSAN as we learn and journey through Uganda. Thank you for reading and coming along with us.

Please do share and leave any thoughts/encouragements for the team at the end of each instalment. We would love to hear from you.