Just a Drop is very fortunate that Jetset sponsors its Golf Day, which every year raises a significant amount. Now in its sixteenth year, the event has established itself as the best supported golf day in the UK travel trade and we're very grateful for the support Jetset provides for this.

Jetset have also generously supported two Health Centres in Uganda - Buwambo Health Centre and Wakiso Health Centre - having a huge impact on the lives of over 80,000 people who use the facilities. 

Uganda achieved political stability in 1986, and has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades, with a large amount of the rural population migrating to areas around urban centres. This large population movement has put pressure on the existing infrastructure, and the country's high population growth (3 times the global average) has further compounded the issue.

The country remains poor, despite economic growth, and there is a real lack of adequate sanitation - many are forced to share overcrowded pit latrines or practice open defecation.

Before Just a Drop started working at the health centres, they ran an operating theatre, maternity ward, HIV clinic, diabetes clinic, laboratory, and youth clinic – yet there wasn’t access to running water in any of the hospital buildings. Water came from a hand pump located outside the hospital grounds, which nurses would have to run to and queue up at if they needed water during a delivery. 

With the generous support of Jet Set we were able to change this situation and help in excess of 80,000 people across both Health Centres. In each Health Centre we delivered: 

• Safe water directly into the hospital through drilling a borehole and constructing a piped system to taps situated across the site
• A 3,000 litre rainwater harvesting tank for handwashing​
• Training of the Health Management Committee and Village Health Teams on the operation and maintenance of the facilities 
• Handwashing stations to promote good hygiene throughout the hospitals too. 
• An incinerator was also constructed ​to dispose of medical waste safely
• A 16-stance, gender sensitive latrine block was constructed with four washrooms and hand washing facilities

Trainings and demonstrations were conducted with Health Centre staff in good hygiene and sanitation practices that should be followed. The aim is to improve these practices in the nearby communities by seeing them done at the Health Centre and through the Village Health Teams who are working within them. Some of these practices include handwashing at critical moments, proper handling of food and patients, proper storage of utensils and the safe water chain. 

The hospitals have made a huge impact on keeping the current Coronavirus Pandemic under control in Uganda. Doctors and Nurses are able to easily access safe clean water to wash their hands, meaning that they can stop the spread of the virus and treat more patients safely and quickly - without having to run out to collect water. 

  

We have been having a tasking moment at the centre especially the day we attend to the HIV/AIDs patients. The number becomes overwhelming, the biggest problem was arising from the few stances of the latrines we had. They could be cleaned each and every time but still remained dirty. Thank God now we have the 16 stances and are going to serve us better. ​

It was terrible when it came to the burning medical wastes, the handling was so poor that every person was fearing the rate of contamination that they were exposed to, environmental hygiene was so poor and we feared spread of diseases from waste. But now we have been trained on how to manage the waste in the centre and how to demolish the medical waste. But now the work has greatly improved and hygienically we are now free from indiscriminate disposal of waste​

Nakalema Justine, Village Health Team leader at Buwambo Health Centre

Before I acquired the knowledge and skills to teach the patients in good hygiene practices, most especially the expectant mothers, new mothers and their care takers, the situation was too pathetic. I used water sparingly since there was scarcity of water, at times I had to just sweep leaving the floor stained with blood. This made me lose my morale of working in the maternity ward and getting water was a dream.

After acquiring knowledge and skills in sanitation/hygiene  promotion I enjoy my work of passing this knowledge along, most especially the expectant mothers and the new mothers. There is tremendous behavioural change already. Currently mothers now throw their used cotton, pampers in the waste bins that were provided. I continuously remind the new mothers not to throw them in the latrine. Thank you for all the WASH facilities you have constructed for Wakiso Health Centre IV. I ensure that I will continuously teach the mothers to properly use the waste bins and the latrine.

Maria, Village Health Team member, Wakiso Health Centre