Author Archives: Sue Morgan

Two more new water wells

Aid from World Day of Prayer England, Wales and Northern Ireland

A grant given to Mission 4 Water by the World Day of Prayer organisation has resulted in two new water wells. This connection started back when the late Sylvia Chapman was often invited as guest speaker throughout the Black Country on World Women’s Day of Prayer.  Since then, her daughter Sue Morgan and husband Simon, originally accountants by profession, have spent the last 10 years living in Uganda where they work to reach the most vulnerable, the poor, the orphans and the widows. Sue says that back in 2008 God laid on her heart the water crisis faced by so many Ugandans every day. So many people still don’t have access to clean water. Young children and the elderly most especially fall sick from diseases like cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and dysentery.

Collecting drinking water from a contaminated source.

The Mission 4 Water charity was founded by Sue and a Ugandan Water Engineer named Sunday. Their drilling team of young men drillers, many of whom, like Sunday, are orphans, have to-date constructed 136 low cost boreholes in rural villages and institutions like schools and hospitals throughout Uganda. The latest two facilities are in the village of Bubebere, some 30 km from Mpigi town, in central Uganda, thanks to the grant received from World Day of Prayer. Previously the 154 children from Little Angels Nursery and Primary School, located on the outskirts of the village, used to walk half a mile each way from the school down the hill to fetch water in jerrycans from the swamp, three times a day. This dirty water was then used to prepare meals, wash clothes and bathe themselves. It was even used for drinking. The same swamp was also used for grazing animals and was home for some venomous snakes. The head told us that she always feared of the safety for the children as they ventured down to fetch water. It was worse in the rainy season since the runoffs made the water muddy, and the banks of the dug-out watering hole became very slippery. Some children had slipped in and almost drowned.

Mission 4 Water, a Christian organisation, believes that everyone has a right to access clean and safe water, no matter what their race, colour or religion. And so, as a sign of solidarity, the second borehole sponsored by World Day of Prayer was located outside the Mosque, in the centre of village, further up the hill.  In the past they used bicycles or more likely they had to pay someone to fetch their water with a truck since it was almost 2 miles to the swamp, or 5 miles to the nearest borehole. 

Little Angels school children and villagers at the new well handover ceremony.

It is always hard to estimate how many people will benefit from a new facility, but the community leaders here reckon about 300 families will now be enjoying clean and safe water! The joy of these school children and the adult community members as they pumped clean water from their new boreholes is very hard to describe, but Sue says that she is still moved to tears at every handover.  The Ugandans have a saying “Water is life”, and how true it is!  Thank you World Day of Prayer for giving new life to these lovely and appreciative people. God bless you!

Two new water wells, in memory of Sylvia Chapman

At the time of her funeral and thanksgiving service on 16th March 2018 the family of Sylvia Chapman announced that they would love to make a well in Uganda as a memorial. Sylvia had for the last 9 years supported the work of her daughter and son-in law, missionaries in Uganda, Simon with Mission Direct and Sue a founder of the charity Mission 4 Water. The family were overwhelmed by the generosity of so many friends, in fact they raised sufficient to make not one but two wells!

new well in KanyumuSue and Ugandan Engineer Sunday, the Directors of Mission 4 Water, met up with Pastor Gilbert in Kumi District, eastern Uganda, to prayerfully seek God’s guidance on the location for the two wells. The first site chosen was in a trading centre near to the small town of Kanyumu. It was adjacent to a new primary school which had been founded by a Christian teacher, now known simply as “Director” who had a heart to see the children of his village receive a better education. He said that he had to pay someone to go on his boda (motorcycle) to fetch water from a stream in jerrycans for the children to drink. When the children lined up, the water was sparingly poured into their plastic beakers but there was never enough. He also explained that there was a Health Centre next door which treated people with malaria and other such common sicknesses, and yet they too struggled to find water.

On the day of the launch of the completed well the whole school of 495 children gathered together with their teachers, and the medics from the health centre, neighbours from the surrounding community, and even the police from the nearby Police Station, they all turned up to celebrate their gift of clean and safe water. They sat in the shade of a big mango tree in the dusty school compound. The visitors from Mission 4 Water, Sue and Sunday, together with Pastor Gilbert and The Director, were seated on plastic garden chairs for the customary speeches, whilst other squeezed on the school benches. The whole group moved outside the school to surround the well where the ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by Pastor Gilbert, followed by prayers of dedication and prayers for the villagers and school.

The second well was sited in a very rural village community of Kaderuna, about 5 miles away, along a very bumpy, dusty track. The people in this area live mainly in mud houses with grass roofs. They are subsistence farmers who work in the small fields affectionately known as “gardens”. This was the harvest season. Although there had not really been enough rain during the growing season, at least this year the crops had not completely failed as previous years. The people were picking maize (corn on the cob) and drying it on the ground in the sunshine. Once dried it would be ground into maize flour which is mingled with boiling water to make posho, a stable food in this area. Pastor Gilbert interpreted their simple words of overwhelming gratitude which was evident by the joy depicted on their faces as they gathered around their new well. They sang hymns of praise and thanked God and Mission 4 Water and the friends and family of Sylvia Chapman. The ceremony concluded with prayers. They prayed for those back in the UK who were missing Sylvia, particularly her husband, Sue’s Father, Reverend Tom Chapman.

new well in KaderunaWhat an amazing and emotional day. How appropriate that others can have a better life following the death of someone special. Because, as they say in Uganda, “Water is Life”.

To make a well in memory of a loved one can be a wonderful way to give life to a whole village, school or health centre after the death of someone close to you. Mission 4 Water will erect a small plaque with a message of your choice and send you photographs to treasure.

If anyone would like to sponsor a well or even  make a donation, large or small, to allow more people to access clean and safe water, please contact Sue in Uganda by email on mission4water@gmail.com  or you can see ways to help support our work financially using our donation page  or you can find Mission4Water on Facebook.

It cost just £2,500 to bless a whole community, school or village like these with the amazing gift of clean and safe water.

Mission 4 Water celebrates 100 wells

The Mission 4 Water team, Directors Sue and Sunday and the drillers Chris, Richard, John, Laban and Peter have celebrated the 100th Mission 4 Water well! They could not imagine when they started the project in 2011 that so many people would benefit from the gift of clean and safe water and they Praise God for His wonderful provision. This 100th well was constructed in a rural village at the base of the Rwensori Mountains, near Fort Portal, in western Uganda. The Town Council had begged for help because the current water source was causing the pupils at the nearby Primary School to fall sick yet they had no budget to provide a new source of water.

Daily danger

Gathering water from makeshift bridge

This precarious makeshift bridge was in daily use by children.

Horrified the team watched this child balancing precariously on a makeshift platform made from Eucalyptus planks, as he collects water for home. No doubt it would become very slippery when wet. These young children were certainly in danger of slipping into the dirty water and drowning.

The community gathers

As usual, when a borehole is finished, the community members are gathered together to receive training and instructions on how to use it correctly. They also receive training in matters of basic sanitation, like using a clean jerry can to fetch clean water, and the importance of careful hand washing to avoid germs and sickness.

community gather at new borehole

Everyone gathers as the new borehole is handed over to the community.

As always, there was such joy and rejoicing when the new borehole was handed over to the community members and the school. The Town Clerk requested more such wells in their town please!

The new well means clean water

This respected elderly lady finally sees her community supplied with fresh water.

This highly respected elderly lady, who had suffered all her life without access to clean water, rejoiced and praised God for the gift of this new water source close to her home.

Local children become friends of the team

Sue and local children

New friends made during the dig.

Sunday and Paul

Sunday and Paul

Meet Charles and younger brother Paul. These local children were at the site every day and became friends of the Mission 4 Water team. Sunday asked Paul why he wasn’t at school, and he replied that he had “finished with school”.
The truth was their Mum had gone off with a new man, and left them and their Dad who could no longer afford school fees, so the boys just hung around all day. Paul completely blew everyone away with his articulate speech of gratitude for giving his village clean water! God bless these kids, and thousands like them in Uganda.

Visit to the National Park

The Mission 4 Water team celebrated the 100th well by visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park. Most of the Drillers had never had the opportunity to experience God’s wonderful creation which was almost on their doorstep.

Celebrating 100 wells

Visiting the Queen Elizabeth National Park to celebrate 100 wells dug by Mission4Water.

They took a sunset boat ride along the Kazinga Channel and a dawn safari drive. They saw Elephants, Buffalo, Hippos, Ugandan Cobs, Water Buck, Wart Hogs, a Monitor Lizard and Mongoose. Unfortunately they failed to see Lions and Leopards on this trip and they said they would have to come again one day! No celebration would be complete without a cake of course!

Thanks to the Donors

This 100th well was sponsored by a number of donors in China who had read about the good work of Mission 4 Water in a Chinese Christian Magazine.

If you wish to donate to our work

Tap or click on this button to go to our online donation page using our online donation page.

Need more information on helping our work?

Please tap or click here for our volunteering page to find out more about volunteering or about raising funds to provide clean and safe water. You can get in touch with a tap or click here for our contact page we look forward to speaking with you!

Our support vehicle ‘written-off’ in major road collision

landcruiser1

Challenging road travel conditions

Travelling in Uganda is a very different experience. The Mission 4 Water team have travelled thousands of miles throughout Uganda in the past few years, typically off the beaten track, deep into the villages. The tracks are often very rugged, uneven and slippery with mud in the rainy season. Even the “main roads” are often poorly constructed and punctuated with potholes, some quite deep.

Anyone who has ever visited Uganda will agree that driving here is certainly a challenge. There are animals which frequently wonder across the road; boda-bodas (taxi motor cycles) weaving in and out of the traffic, sometimes on the wrong side of the road. Then there are the “taxis”, the minibuses which, fully-ladened with anything from mattresses to bunches of bananas, are always on the look-out for another fare paying passenger as they progress along the road, pulling in and out and stopping abruptly without any warning.

It was one such taxi, racing with another to the next trading centre, that suddenly pulled out across the road recently, straight into the path of Sunday in the Mission 4 Water 2001 Landcruiser, travelling in the opposite direction.  The head-on collision caused a wheel to come off, meaning that our car was uncontrollable. It left the road and crashed into a building. We thank God that Sunday walked away from the accident completely unharmed, if shaken. It certainly was a miracle!

Options for a new vehicle

We were not surprised when the insurance company informed us that our vehicle was a write-off. We are grateful that we had comprehensive insurance with a reputable insurance company (not all insurance companies can be described as such here). However, once the excess has been deducted it leaves us with a very small budget to invest in a replacement. In the meantime we are having to hire a car in order to keep the show on the road.

Whilst our car was in very good condition, unfortunately that can’t be said of many cars in Uganda. There is no such thing as a service history; no MOT and no guarantees when buying a used car. Hence buying a second hand vehicle here is very risky. The best way to eliminate some of those risks is to buy a newly imported vehicle from the Bond, usually coming in from Japan. These cars are advertised for sale at a rate before taxes. Car sales taxes are numerous and high, including import tax, VAT, a further tax if a vehicle is older than 10 years (which is most), and an emissions tax. All these together can easily double the price of a car.

landcruiser2

How you can help us get a replacement support vehicle

Before we invest in a replacement vehicle we are trying to raise some more funds and so we respectfully ask our supporters and followers please to consider if they can make a donation to assist us at this difficult time. Any donation, no matter how small will help.

Online Donation

Tap or click on this button to go to our online donation page using our online donation service.

Online donation button

Set up a standing order

Alternatively you can click or tap this link to download a standing order and gift aid form , or simply send a cheque made payable to Mission4Water, posted to our treasurer Mr Alan Field, 9 Sherwood Avenue, Ferndown, Dorset, BH22 8JS.

Set up a bank transfer

For information about bank transfers to Uganda from places other than the UK please email mission4water@gmail.com.

We thank you in advance. Sue and Sunday

Mission 4 Water Director Sunday marries Caroline

M4W - The WeddingSue and Simon Morgan have been fortunate during their time in Uganda to be ‘minded’ by Sunday, who is like a son to them. 2016 began with the exciting announcement that he was to marry Caroline, the maid/nanny who for the last two years has been caring for Sunday’s two sons Great and Kenan. The church was booked for Saturday 6th February, and the boys’ school field was chosen as the venue for the reception. Friends and family were mobilised to form the planning committees, as is the tradition. People in Uganda love to party but nobody can afford to host such an event on their own, so they all make contributions to help cover the expenses, from food, tent and chair hire, decorations, transport, clothes, even hairdressers and rings. Great (aged 7) contributed 10,000 (£2) from his piggy bank to buy bottle openers for the sodas, and Kenan (aged 5) also gave 10,000 to buy soap for hand washing. The fondant icing was hand made since ready-made was not available in the shops – a very sticky job! Other cakes were wrapped and given as gifts since Ugandans seldom get cake. Sue made the tiered wedding cake, assisted by Great and Kenan. Since Sunday is closely associated with ‘Muzungus’ (Whites), many of his friends and family rather assumed however that Sue and Simon were in a position to pay for the function themselves and so many held back from making the usual contributions. M4W - The Reception.pngBut of course, being missionary charity workers, that was certainly not the case. With just a week to go, many deposits had been paid but the remaining cash was not enough to pay the balances or pay the caterers for the food. It’s hard not to get stressed at times like this, but they prayed and as usual God was in control and it all came together; it was a wonderful day and Sunday extends his special appreciation to his UK friends who gave generously and helped to make the reception such a special celebration, and also to all those who sent greetings by email, on Facebook and who posted greetings cards. Sunday’s family members thanked the Morgans for supporting Sunday and his sons over the years, and in his speech, Sunday’s Grandad said that Sunday should no longer refer to himself as an orphan since he was now blessed with a special family. May God truly bless your marriage dear Sunday and Caroline.