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.
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.
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!
Sue 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. 
But 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.