A Year Later: "I am not giving up."

Before our intervention a year ago, the people of Bukhakunga were constantly ill from drinking their spring's dirty water.

"I used to get sick often and missed going to school, which affected my results negatively," explained 17-year-old Rose W. "At home, you could see panicking and stress all over my parents' faces whenever one [was] sick, just because sickness needs treatment and maybe there [would be] no money."

These things take time, of course - but things are steadily looking up for Rose and her family.

"[I] am now healthier than before and [I] have been working extra hard on my studies, which have slightly improved," Rose said. "But [I] am not giving up, and [this] is because [I] am no longer absent at school as I used to [be] whenever [I was] sick."

"This water point has put smiles on our faces again," said 25-year-old shopkeeper Sharon Achitsa, Rose's neighbor.

"Before, we used to have many cases of community members getting sick after drinking water from the unprotected spring, but now we stay healthy," Sharon continued. "Now, I have quality time with my family members to work on our farm plots. Before, we could not do hard chores because of our weak bodies, which resulted from consuming dirty water, but things have changed. Farming is our main source of income, and as you can see, I have enough foodstuff to feed my family members because [I] am healthy and I can work extra hard."

"Having reliable and safe water has helped in managing my time for extra studies while at home and also [has given me] time to assist my family members in farming activities whenever needed."

Sharon, left, and Rose, right, at the spring.