Water of Life for the Students of Njababona

In the village of Njababona, within the Parish of Saint John the Forerunner of the Holy Diocese of Jinja in Uganda, our Fraternity funded the construction of a new well. The project, small in scale but great in importance, instantly changed the daily lives of dozens of children and families in the area.

The photos from the inauguration speak for themselves. Children in their yellow school uniforms gather around the pump, filling their palms with water, washing their hands, laughing. For us, it’s an obvious daily action; for them, it’s a change that will determine their health and quality of life for years to come.

At the ceremony, the priest blessed the well and stood among the children and villagers who had gathered for the occasion. A little later, Bishop Silvestros of Jinja sent us the following message:

“Thank you for the well. Our prayer and concern now is for buildings to be constructed for our poor school there.”

His words are not a figure of speech. The photos from the Njababona school clearly show what he means: a classroom made of a wooden frame and reed walls, without a proper protective roof, with semi-finished wooden desks. Inside this makeshift space, children sit tightly next to each other, carefully writing in their notebooks, looking towards a blackboard supported by reeds. They learn there, despite the conditions.

The well, therefore, is not the end of a need, but the beginning of a relationship of trust. The Diocese of Jinja, through Bishop Silvestros, is already showing us the next step: School buildings that will protect the children from the sun and rain, providing them with a space worthy of their effort to learn and be educated.

The Orthodox External Mission Fraternity thanks every donor who supported this project and continues to stand by the Parish of Saint John the Forerunner in Njababona, with the prayer that the next step, the school, will soon follow the well.

“But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:14).