Descent's Story

Kiwoko is a small town located in the infamous Luwero triangle of Uganda. It was here that war raged, and the regime of Idi Amin devastated thousands of Ugandans, leaving them with painful scars. After all these years, these scars have still not gone away.

As we drive into the area, we see red soil roads running between green banana trees, small mud huts and mountains of bricks; A scene typical of the Ugandan countryside.

Despite living in abject poverty, most people in the Kiwoko area try their best to keep their homes and living areas clean. This is a result of an initiative from the community hospital.

Gloom has faded because of the supportive services given by Kiwoko hospital. Through hospital programs, many people have learned to improve on their standard of living by enhancing hygiene and adopting other disease prevention measures. One such person is Descent Semanda.

Dressed in tattered clothes, Descent comes out of his house to greet and receive the visitors from The Water School. He is soft spoken and it is evident that he takes great pride in his homestead, keeping it neat and tidy. A twinkle of reflected light sparkles to attract our attention and is coming from the well arranged clear water bottles filled and laying on the metal surfaced table under the sun. He has about 20 full bottles lying on the table, and shares them with his family, neighbors and their children.

Descent explains "I fetch water from the nearby borehole. The water is contaminated with germs thus not good for my children to drink. However, since I started using this new method of treating water, no one has complained of stomach aches or diarrhea."

A father of three, Descent trains his family and neighbors on how to disinfect water using the program taught by The Water School. Now, most of his neighbors are practicing Solar Water Disinfection using readily available plastic bottles. His little sphere of influence will benefit the community at large.

Through Descent and his neighbors, a new freedom from water-borne disease is emerging in Kiwoko. Many more people will adopt this simple, effective and sustainable method of water purification as people like Descent reach out to them.