By Jovita Mirembe
Edith Nakintu a resident of Geregere village in Lugazi town council says she has been a poultry farmer for the last 30 years but water has been her main challenge in business.
‘ My business hasn’t been performing very well during the drought season because my birds have been dying due to water scarcity in the village. We get water from natural wells but during the dry season they also dry up because the demand for water is so high as animals and human beings compete for it. Iam happy that we have got a permanent water source and I have no worry of water an more’ Nakintu says
Bruno Kizza a vegetable farmer who has done the job for the last 20 years says that he has also been getting a challenge of water scarcity while growing his crops but he is happy that the water problem has been settled by ‘Humanity First’ donating a bore hole to the population.
Officiating at the inauguration of the bore hole 23 November , Juhi Chawla Mehta, daughter- in -law of our Chairman of Mehta Group, Mr. Mahendra Nanji bhai Mehta, said that this bore hole which cost sh17 million is going to benefit over 3000 people in the village and its surrounding areas.
‘ Farmers, small children, women, and men will be able to reap the benefits of this fresh water pump, which is being installed for the first time in centuries. These thousands of people will no longer have to drink contaminated water from the ponds. By drinking fresh and safe water from this bore hole , they will be able to get rid of several health problems, together with their animals and birds that arise due to the consumption of contaminated water’ Chawla Mehta said.
Chairman of Mehta Group Mahendra Nanji bhai Mehta during the function said that people in this area are compelled to fetch water from natural drains and ponds for their daily needs which include looking after their birds and animals that wasn’t fit for human consumption.
He said that this group of 40 members made a corpus of funds, wherein, every member of the group donated 30,000 UGX per month. The collected funds were used to cook hygienic meals for close to thousands of people in and around Lugazi town council .
‘I came to know about this initiative, as a personification and I supported the initiative which had saved money to support Geregere village for one and half years by not only word of mouth but also by doubling up the amount garnered by the group on a monthly basis.
Cooked meals have been served hot to the community for free every fort night by taking it to their doorsteps. In the past, we also distributed reusable sanitary pads among the girls of the villages’ Bhai Mehta said.
