If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
– African proverb

For the people of Amagoro, Uganda, going alone to fetch water has long been the only option—though it’s anything but quick or easy. In the early morning hours, over 100 miles away from the capital city of Kampala, the women and girls of this remote Ugandan village hike over a mile through rocky terrain and fields with empty water jugs and a quiet dignity they don’t even know they’re carrying. 

On any given day, these villagers may come across pythons, Cobras, or a group of olive baboons that are intelligent as they are aggressive. Keeping their distance, they wait with patience until the path is clear to continue their journey gathering water or back home to safety. All this effort—which may be repeated more than once daily—just to gather the water they need to drink, cook, and bathe.

The reality of their plight can feel overwhelming and out of this world, like it’s not possible that humans are working so hard for clean water in 2019. Yet the toil of water-gathering is not rare or unique to the people of Amagoro. Since we first traveled to Mattuga, Uganda to build a well in 2015, we’ve witnessed just how many men, women, and children lack the clean water they need to advance and thrive. The sharp point of their focus and the strength of their drive is too often spent on the necessity of surviving.  

Imagine: how would your life be different if you had to take a 2-mile round trip to gather water every single day?

“The light in their eyes was astounding.”

JaVale and I walked those rocky two miles to the watering hole and back. We saw women gracefully balancing water jugs on top of their heads while carrying babies on their backs. We witnessed adolescent girls miss their opportunity for education because they lacked the water they needed to bathe and wash their clothing during menstruation. We sat on the floor of the hospital with children, whose hands and faces had been severely burned from boiling unclean water to make it sanitary. We experienced the despair of a community situated in a region labeled a “no water zone” by the Ugandan government. 

It’s no wonder then, when the well at Amagoro Primary School was completed, that the community pulsed with hope of new possibilities. The women and girls were vibrant and radiated with life—this well meant they were suddenly freed from the time-consuming labor of water-gathering. The light in their eyes was astounding. 

 -Kez Reed, Co-Founder 

Juglife Foundation = Clean Water + Education

Clean water is the ingredient every community needs to unlock their potential for success and wellbeing. Combined with education, when children have with access to clean drinking water they are equipped to build upon their parents’ legacy, and contribute to safe, sustainable, and innovative societies. 

We’re sobered by the struggle and humbled by the joy of simple living and. That’s why we took the idea of building wells from dream to reality. 

Each time we visit a community, we’re humbled by the genuine joy of people who face so many tangible struggles every single day. They teach us to keep our own problems in perspective and to never take clean water for granted. Together, we can help elevate entire communities for years to come. 

Imagine: how would you adapt to living on only having 5 gallons of water each week?  

Now, fill your jug with fresh clean water, give thanks for how easy that was, and join us in our mission to give water to those in need.   

To learn more about our wells project–and how you can get involved–watch this space, follow our social channels, or check out our live events.