2018 has presented a very special opportunity for me at Three Avocados. Our friends at Hearts & Hope for Uganda let us know that a few wells in villages they work with were in need of repairs. The two villages, Nakabango and Mbulamuti, were stops on my first trip to Uganda in 2010.
I've written about Mbulamuti before. You can find my previous posts about Mbulamuti here, here, and here. I fell in love with Uganda as soon as I stepped off the plane, however, Mbulamuti solidified that love forever for me. It's such an amazing place. It was once a hub of commerce. The train came through town, providing for a bustling economy.
Mbulamuti was one of the first places in Uganda, outside of Kampala and Jinja, that I saw what looked like 'real' buildings. There was more than mud huts. There were concrete buildings, concrete homes, mills, electrical lines...signs of real infrastructure. However, the buildings were falling apart. The train no longer came through town. The cotton fields that used to exist were no longer being farmed.
As Uganda wrestled with civil war and a change in power, Mbulamuti became a victim of war. The once bustling town was decimated and poverty took over. Mud huts now rule Mbulamuti. So many of the children we saw on that trip were ill. The community was begging for clean water.
However, the thing is, the people in Mbulamuti were filled with gratitude. They held church services in an old mill that was literally falling over. And they were grateful that they had a building! The children sang songs and danced for us. It was absolutely incredible!
Our friends at Hearts and Hope were able to build a school in Mbulamuti, as well as drill a borehole. However, as the years passed, the borehole became inoperable, and Hearts and Hope asked if we had any funding available to repair the well. The opportunity to help in Mbulamuti was such an honor for me.
I would say that Mbulamuti was a major factor in my decision to start Three Avocados after that trip to Uganda. And Three Avocados has provided such a huge change in my life. I am forever grateful to the people of Mbulamuti, even though they have absolutely no idea how much of an impact they have had on my life of on Three Avocados. Providing funding to repair that well is the least we could do for our friends in Mbulamuti.