Bughungu Clean Water Project Nears Completion
We have some happy news to report! This month we secured a grant for the last phase of construction for the school’s holding tank and water purification system. Natalya’s Fund, a UK family foundation, has funded several past projects at Bughungu Primary School, and their long-term relationship with our Teddy sealed the deal. The Water Purification contractor will visit the school next week to begin the final process of bringing safe drinking water to 900 children and their teachers.
Now the only remaining work to be done is the installation of five community taps along the waterline. A contribution from a very generous local donor means we will be able to complete the community taps without any further fundraising. In fact, the first tap installation is nearly complete, and it’s looking very elegant. The square hole on the left will house the control valve.
Residents along the nearly 3-kilometer waterline are thrilled to see these taps becoming a reality. The taps represent a significant savings for community members in time and energy spent collecting water for household use.
The Monthlies Fund
With that huge water project nearly complete, we have turned our attention to another vital issue: the most easily resolved barrier to a girl’s education…
Imagine being a young girl starting your period. You’re unprepared, confused, maybe a little scared, maybe feeling ashamed. You might not understand what’s happening to your body at all. You only know that something has changed and you’re suddenly responsible for managing it.
For too many girls, that moment is a source of fear instead of confidence, and shame instead of pride. And when a girl doesn’t have what she needs to manage her period, she stays home. She misses lessons. She falls behind. Sometimes she drops out of school altogether.
The Monthlies Fund exists to change her story.
We’re providing 130 girls at Bughungu Primary School with simple, reusable sanitary pad kits that will make an enormous difference in a girl’s ability to finish her education.
Each kit includes:
- 2 reusable sanitary pads
- 2 pairs of underwear
- Soap
- An information / instruction sheet
- Carrying bag
They’re practical, durable, culturally appropriate, and locally made by the school’s GEM (Girls’ Education Movement) Club. The kits will be distributed during a training session led by one of their trusted teachers (Madame Robbina, pictured above), and the school will keep extra supplies on hand so the girls can replace soap and pads as needed. As the fund grows, the GEM Club will make more kits, with a view to expand the program to other primary schools in the community.
Our start-up goal is $1950. That’s just $15 per girl. It’s one of the most cost‑effective ways to support a girl’s education and her physical and mental wellbeing. With this kit, she can attend class, participate fully, and feel confident in her own body. Together we can make sure a girl’s period never stands in the way of her education.
As we look at the nearly completed water system at Bughungu, with the school’s purification system soon to be installed, and the first of five community taps already taking shape, we’re reminded of what steady, collective generosity makes possible. A 3‑kilometre waterline with four water tanks has been no small undertaking for us, yet it has come together piece by piece because people believed in supporting the wellbeing of this community.
And now, with the Monthlies Fund, that same spirit is shaping a different kind of future. A simple kit with pads, underwear, soap, in a small bag, can be the difference between a girl staying in school or falling behind. It’s practical, it’s dignified, and it’s exactly the kind of barrier we can remove together.
To everyone who has given, encouraged, shared, or simply followed these projects as they have evolved: thank you. You’ve helped bring safe water within reach for hundreds of families, and you’re helping to ensure that 130 girls can complete their education with confidence instead of fear. These are the kinds of changes that ripple outward for years.
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