IMPACT (COMMUNITY SERVED) 1000 10,800 19,625 13,000 17,300 215 1,035 150 1,040 462 531 736 363 100 Attendees (Yearly) Average Births Water-Borne Illnesses (Treated) Busano Health Center Namawanga Health Center Busiu Health Center Bufumbo Health Center *All information above was collected from the Assistant District Health Officer in the office of the District Health Officer in Mbale, Uganda **Data represents averages obtained from 2016-2018 health center records. 16
NICHOLAS MASETE In Uganda here, to most, these plastic bottles are useless. Since meeting Michał, he came here and guided me on how to use these bottles. In the beginning it was hard for me, but I caught up and understood what he wanted to do with the <strong>Ichupa</strong> <strong>Upcycle</strong> <strong>Project</strong>. One challenge I continue to face is when people see me collecting the bottles, they call me mad as if somehow I’ve gone mad with collecting all this rubbish, and it’s greatly from people not believing that we can make something out of them. When the community people witness our work, they express that they never saw this type of tank before. Because we use different colored bottle caps, (red, yellow, black, blue, brown), many people want to ask me when I am building whether I am constructing a flower in the compound. When I was building the harvesting tanks at North Road Primary School, people used to just question me. “What are you doing? What is this? How does this become a tank? Are you going to put your own water into it?” So many questions. People who admire this <strong>Project</strong> often ask me, “How do you know this type of work?” Who teach you? Who trained you? I told them that there was a man named Michał who trained me, and he allowed me to train other people who are now benefiting from it. I am proud of this work. Not only because I can provide for myself and my family, but this <strong>Project</strong> also helps most of the community by providing employment, including street kids. <strong>The</strong>se youth don’t have many who consider taking care of them or providing them with work, but because of Michał now these kids receive a premium for what they collect along the streets in Mbale District. <strong>The</strong>se same children have earned enough to even support their own education. When anyone sees the street kids working on the road or in the rubbish piles, they also think these kids are mad. <strong>The</strong>y’re not mad, they’re providing for themselves because no one else wants to be bothered by them. <strong>The</strong>se are some of the happiest people I work with, and its thanks to the <strong>Ichupa</strong> <strong>Upcycle</strong> <strong>Project</strong>. During the dry season, our national water can disappear and it can last a full month before we receive it for just two hours before it disappears again. Even from December of this past year and into this recent March, there was no water here in Mbale District. Community members have to fetch water from rivers on the other side, where it is being shared with cows, goats, pigs. This same water can cost you 2-3,000 shillings ($1 USD) per jerrycan. <strong>The</strong> rural communities cannot afford this, especially on top of traveling over ten kilometers for water. One unit of water is 10,000 UGX ($3) Director of Engineering, <strong>The</strong> <strong>Ichupa</strong> <strong>Upcycle</strong> <strong>Project</strong> including taxes. If I were to have this tank at me home, I can reduce up to 90% of my expenses. Because if you were to construct one of our 10,000L tanks, it could take you up to six months to use all of it meaning that you can save a lot of money. Our customers, including our early beneficiaries, have continued to expressed their savings. Per term, they were spending over four million shillings ($1,050), but now spend less than one million shillings. ($265). That’s a lot of money! 17
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