This past December, I traveled to Uganda and Kenya for three weeks to assess the progress of our programs. It was my first visit in nearly 18 months. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. This was my longest absence from the field since Lifeline had launched operations in 2006. Perhaps I should stay away longer next time. To paraphrase the President in his speech last week, “the state of the Lifeline union is strong and its future is bright.”
Our operation has never been more professional, our productivity never so great, our team never more efficient, its morale never so high. Our new country director in Uganda, the incomparable Amandine Desaunay, has worked hard to empower our local staff and to instill in them a sense of pride in their work and their mission. The change in atmosphere was palpable and goes a long way to explain the progress we have made since Ama took charge of the office in April of last year. A couple illustrations should provide some sense of what I mean.
First, about two months before my arrival, our office administrator, Rhembo Nyanga, nearly lost his leg and severely injured his arm in a terrible on-the-job motorcycle accident. Just a couple of days after having been released from the hospital, Rhembo somehow managed to summon the strength to show up at our office Christmas party, where I met him for the first time. I told him how sorry I was about his accident, but Rhembo would hear none of it. He was just thankful to be back with his team. He spoke glowingly of his work for Lifeline and told me he couldn’t wait to get back on the job after the New Year. I didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm by telling him he was being unrealistic – with Rhembo confined to a wheelchair, his leg and arm in a cast and a great deal of rehabilitation ahead of him, I saw no way that he could possibly make it back that soon. Turns out Rhembo (or is that Rambo?) was right. I was wrong and we are all absolutely delighted to have him back.
The second incident I want to relay concerns our drilling team. A couple months prior to my arrival in Uganda, the team had begun work on a Charity Water grant under which Lifeline committed to produce 55 boreholes within 12 months’ time. Unfortunately, the project had not gotten off to a very smooth start – owing to very loose clay formation in the area we were drilling our first couple attempts failed and then, to make matter worse, we lost a vital piece of equipment – a drilling hammer – which got stuck some 50 meters below the surface. As a result, we fell behind in our work by about six weeks. But, for the members of the drilling team this was not acceptable. They insisted on working over the Christmas holiday (when our office is closed) and I am delighted to report that, by now, they are all but
caught up and we are on track to finish the project on time.
These are just two of many highlights from my trip. Others include the substantial progress we have made in Uganda toward the acquisition of carbon financing for our stove program and the vote of confidence we have received from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Kenya, which is anxious for us to get registered so that they can fund the expansion of our projects along the Somali border of that country. I could go on and on, but I think this should give you a pretty good idea of the positive direction things are moving in here at Lifeline. Stay tuned for more exciting developments.
Dan Wolf
Executive Director and Lifeline Founder
Washington, DC
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