Texans on Mission complete work after Ugandan mudslide

Six months after a deadly mudslide swept a Ugandan village off the map, Texans on Mission completed its response to the disaster after feeding the relocated residents, providing protein supplements for undernourished children and constructing a system for clean water access.

“We finished the water system at the end of May,” said Mitch Chapman, director of Texans on Mission Water Impact. The system brought water to 2,900 refugees at the Bunambutye Resettlement Camp processing center and will continue to serve others in the future.

Texans and Ugandans on Mission, Texans on Mission’s ministry in the African country, previously had wrapped up its feeding and child nourishment program.

They offered the food and nutritional services and water ministries at the request of the Ugandan government.

 “Funds from Texans on Mission supporters helped us respond quickly to the feeding and child nourishment needs, but the water project took longer,” Chapman said.

Three attempts failed to strike water at the processing center where the people lived, so the Ugandan government gave the ministry access to a well two kilometers away.

“Our Uganda project manager directed the process that involved local contractors, our own team and some volunteers,” Chapman said.

Volunteers built two 20,000-liter water towers, one at the well site and one where the people are living in giant, 100-person tents. They also installed a large solar power source at the well and a pipe to connect the towers.

Providing a long-term water solution

In his final project report to the Uganda Office of the Prime Minister, Chapman wrote: “Despite logistical, weather-related, and capacity challenges, significant milestones were achieved, including the design and construction of a functional water system, the effective distribution of food aid, and the mobilization and management of volunteer teams.”

The government uses the processing center as a temporary location for residents forced from their villages by catastrophic circumstances like the December mudslide. The new water system at the processing center will continue to meet the needs of future crises.

“Floods and fires are pretty common in the area,” Chapman said. “The processing center is a new, permanent facility to help victims—up to 4,000 people at one time.

“It will get empty, and it will get full again. That’s why it was important to get a long-term water solution.”

The Texans on Mission ministry started Bible studies at the processing center, as it does everywhere it works, and four are still active.

“This response was different for us, but it was important because the Uganda government has come to trust the quality, credibility and helpfulness that we bring to the people we serve,” Chapman said.

“And we are free to minister to their spiritual needs as we address their needs for clean water.”