Water Supply 

Community Centre

Mustard Seed

Kyema Water Project

Reasons giving rise to the need of a clean safe water source are obvious from these pictures. Water drawn from open wells for drinking and general use as was the case in Kyema has devastating results. 

Besides, these sources are several kilometers away. In Kyema women and children walked 5km carrying water in 20 litre containers. For children this is an arduous task which inevitably affects their physical development.

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Clean water well

This is a clean water source installed at Kyema (Uganda) benefiting 500 people who used to walk many kilometers everyday to fetch water though unsuitable for human consumption. The provision of this facility has improved people's quality of life, especially that of children whose resistance to infection caused by drinking polluted water meant constant diarrhoea leading to dehydration and even death!

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Electricity Supply   

The construction of a water well cost £4,000 against the total raised of £12,000. After careful consideration the balance was then used to construct a power line into the village and install a transformer from which service to individual families could be made. Availability of electricity in the community opened a window of opportunity to a lot of families. Homes which could afford it started to benefit from what is generally taken for granted by the western affluent societies.  

• Provision of lighting at the touch of a switch  
• Provision of refrigeration to keep perishables from deterioration  
• Community entertainment (video shows)
• Power flour mills
• Chilled drinks in shops
• Battery charging
• General domestic use e.g.
  Fabrication and welding
  

Community centre

Once the water facility was in place it opened a new vision for the community. People soon realized that by working together they could achieve more than individuals. The elders gathered together and the result was a decision to build a multi-purpose community centre to host activities for community development. The finished building with assistance from the west today is home for:

• Parish meetings
• Play groups
• Community library
• Health clinic
• Village shops

The community hall is regularly used for educational and social video shows. A recent development is to use the hall as a day nursery. A purpose built nursery is in the offing.

Project No. 4

Mustard Seed Project

The Vision:

  During 1996 a goodwill mission travelled to Kyema to open
  the Community Centre. The mission made a short trip to
  Hoima the Diocesan Headquarters of Bunyoro, Diocese of
  the Church of Uganda. A brief visit was made to an
  orphanage set up by the diocese. On return to England, a
  member of the mission, Jacqueline Gee, was constantly
  troubled about the orphans she had seen in Kyema
  (Masindi); who were not cared for. She brought the concern
  to Meltham Churches Together who agreed to adopt the
  concept of caring for the orphans at Kyema, not in an
  orphanage but in foster homes. Meltham Mustard Seed
  Project was then born in FAITH.

Mustard Seed Project (Kyema).

By and large this is the most daunting project ever contemplated by the Meltham Christian  Community. It came about after the recognition of the need to care for orphaned children at Kyema whose parents had died from Aids and civil conflicts.

Whereas there is a similar project in the next town Hoima, this is an orphanage which cares for children from infancy up to being young adults. The time would come when these young adults must be integrated in the mainstream of society to become independent.

The Mustard Seed Project at Kyema divorced itself from the orphanage concept and instead chose the route to fostering. This model has worked successfully by providing:  

 

-         a family environment for each child  

-         parental care

-         continuity of parenthood

-         mutual respect

-         moral guidance.  

Meltham - Kyema

The link between Meltham and Kyema is a mutual understanding of each other's concerns and provides practical help and encouragement to overcome those concerns. Individuals in the Meltham Christian Community make regular donations to the Mustard Seed Project where the money raised is sent to Uganda to care for the children. At Kyema 22 children have benefited from the donations which pay for their support in:

-         foster families

-         school fees

-         medical expenses

-         dress and social welfare

To provide all the above it requires £20 per child per month.

Since its creation in 1996 the project has seen one child enter university and another to a training college and a few more soon to become 19 and outgrow the age at which the project has a cut off point.  

Sustainability

The need for this type of care outstrips the resources, management is therefore conscious to limit numbers to a sustainable level and provide the quality of care needed. Therefore more support from donors is always welcome.