In 2015, Jim Wilhite was teaching in an area of Uganda called Kagoma Gate and began to notice the many graves of small children.
“The people there didn’t even name their children until they were 2-years-old because they thought they were going to die,” Jim said. “Most did.”
A year later, working with
Water With Blessings
as Uganda Coordinator, Jim brought the first Sawyer PointONE filters to the area. Now, in an area once overwhelmed by typhoid, 2,600 people are drinking clean water. And children no longer die from contaminated water.
Partnering with the Comboni Missionaries, Jim and
Water With Blessings
have helped train and equip nearly 1,500 Water Women across Uganda. One area of recent concentration has been Moyo in northern Uganda, adjacent to southern Sudan. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart invited
Water With Blessings
to help provide clean water in the resettlement areas filled with Sudanese refugees.
Because of the terrible water conditions – often slimy, thick liquid teeming with worms and mosquito larvae – people are even reluctant to drink the filtered water until Jim samples it first.
“If they see me drink the water, they believe it’s safe,” he said. “The little ones come up and take a drink. They understand immediately that it doesn’t taste the same and they want more and more and more.”
The
Water With Blessings
method fits with the ideals of St. Daniel Comboni, who in the late 1800s recognized the talents and gifts of the people he served in the African missions. The Water Women take responsibility for providing clean water for their own and 3 other families. Some have gone on to help in training others.
“In one area where the women were being chosen, when the last woman’s name was picked she leaped in the air, praising the Lord,” Jim said. “She said ‘I prayed the Rosary all night asking that God would give me this gift (of being a
Water Woman
).’
“We don’t have to do anything after the training. The women know what to do.”