Life or death – North Devon asked to step up for vital water borehole appeal

A vital appeal for fresh clean water in some of the poorest parts of Uganda is already halfway to its goal thanks to a generous local sponsor – now Devon companies and organisations are being asked to step up and match the rest.

Philip J Milton and Company Plc, North Devon’s leading and longest established independent wealth management firm, has teamed up with North Devon-based charity Amigos Worldwide and agreed to match fund half of the £15,000 cost for three fresh water boreholes in impoverished rural farming villages.

Now the hunt is on for three businesses, groups or organisations who would be willing to each raise £2,500 to pay for ‘half’ a borehole, while PJM & Co will meet the iotehr half via the Philip J Milton and Company Charitable Foundation.

Amigos marks its 25th anniversary this year and one of its many projects is to help people in the subsistence farming communities of northern Uganda to install boreholes that give villagers instant access to clean and safe water.

The recent UK heatwave has seen many of us struggling. Now imagine if you need water you have to first walk miles to get it, the difference between life or death – because that’s what many people in rural Uganda still have to do, every single day.

Above: A happy villager at Oraja in northern Uganda is pleased she now longer has to walk miles simply to collect potentially contaminated water. Credit: Amigos Worldwide 

Even then, water sources may be contaminated by bacteria and cause sickness, not to mention potential dangers faced on the journey by the women and children who carry out this task.

Such basic chores for survival also prevent the adults from working and earning money to feed their families and it means the children are unable to go to school.

READ MORE: Half price boreholes are saving lives thanks to North Devon sponsor

Almost three quarters of the Ugandan population work in agriculture -many on small-scale, subsistence farms. Amigos works closely with communities to equip them with modern farming skills and resources such as boreholes. It also runs the Kira Farm training centre teaching vital skills to young Ugandans.

Philip J Milton and Company Plc has been a supporter of Amigos for 16 years and in that time has match funded and sponsored five boreholes that are literally a game-changer for rural villages.

Above: Ugandans working earlier this year to install a freshwater borehole in the Lira district, funded by Amigos. Credit: Amigos Worldwide

James Lewis, who became CEO of Amigos this year, said: “The last time we ran this appeal in 2022 with the generous support of Philip and his team, we had an amazing response from our Devon community, with three brilliant sponsors coming forward very quickly.

“This enabled us to plan and install boreholes for three remote rural communities speedily and we very much hope organisations of Devon will step up again with such an impressive and humbling commitment.”

Philip Milton, Managing Director of PJM & Co, said the company was always pleased to do what it could to help Amigos.

He added: “When we think of the recent heatwave and how badly it affected so many of us, yet all we had to do was turn on a tap, with no fear of whether the water would make us sick or even kill us.

“It seems unthinkable that for millions of people this is still the case – they need clean, safe water for themselves and their animals; it literally does boil down to survival – and we can hardly expect people to improve their own lot when hours every day are spent simply carrying water.

“I do hope other businesses or perhaps community organisations will be willing to take this up as a cause by raising half the cost, which can be done under personal GiftAid to maximise the donation too (or tax-relievable to corporations) and add their names to one of these new boreholes.”

Above: The new freshwater borehole at Bokwe village, beside a field of freshly planted crops. Credit: Amigos Worldwide

To highlight how important this appeal is, Caroline Awap, a resident of Ogwari village in Uganda explains the difference their borehole has made, not only to her village but to three others nearby.

She said: “I have seen both the struggles and the triumphs of my community, but one of the biggest blessings we have received in recent years is the borehole constructed in 2022. It has transformed our lives in many ways we never imagined.

“Before the borehole was built, collecting water was a daily hardship. We used to fetch water from a distant swamp, where the water was dirty and often caused sickness.

“During the dry season, the swamp would shrink and the little water left would be shared with animals, making it even more unsafe for drinking. Our children missed school and women spent hours walking long distances just to get a few jerry cans of water.

“But everything changed when the borehole was constructed. It was as if new life had been breathed into our community. The joy that filled our hearts was immeasurable!

“For the first time in many years, we felt a sense of relief and security.”

Above: Villagers in the Lira district of Uganda during the construction of a new water borehole for their community. Credit: Amigos Worldwide

Sponsors will have their names on a plaque on the new borehole and Amigos Worldwide will send them reports on the community they have supported and the people whose lives they have helped change.

Any local people, businesses or organisations that would like to sponsor a borehole are invited to email info@amigos.org.uk or call Amigos on 01271 377664. Find out more about the charity and its many initiatives helping people in Uganda and the Sudan at https://www.amigos.org.uk