District International Project
Village Name and Location: Oduworo Village, Ongino Sub-County, Kumi District, Uganda

Oduworo Village is located about 6 hours drive northeast from the city of Kampala, Uganda; accessed by Land Rover on miles of dirt road through the jungles and plains of Uganda. The village is stretched out for several miles along a dirt road. We were told the village was raided over 20 years ago by a renegade tribe that took all their livestock, and anything of value and killed anyone who resisted. In 20 years they have not been able to recover from those loses.

The people there are wonderful! Over 600 showed up at the meeting tree just to greet us, not asking for help, or a handout, but to thank us for being only the second organization to ever to find them, (the other was a church that never came back) and they gave thanks for the miracle of us coming from the other side of the world and of all the places we could have found; we found them!

The people are very proud and we had to ask them if there was anything we could help them with. They were very humble with their answer, making sure we understood that if they only had water that they could help themselves, but they did not know how to get Clean Water.

We were surprised that the village elders allowed 4 different people to speak. One represented the youth, one represented the women, one represented the elderly, and then the village elders spoke. Their requests were very basic but the one that touched our hearts was the man representing the elderly. He said that they are a burden to the village and if only they had Bee hives they could make an income that would make them a useful part of the village society.

Some information about the village;

• Average household size is 8 people
• Life expectancy for men is 45 years and women, 48 years
• Average income is .30 cents per day
• The village grows their own food
• Infant mortality rate is 3 out of 10
• Nearest health clinic is 18 miles away
• Incidence of malaria in the village is 53%
• Incidence of AIDS is .4%
• Available water source is 2 miles away
• Village sanitation is poor
• There is no electricity in the village
• There is no school in the village, but one is nearby
• Children start work at 7 years old
• There is no vocation in the village
• Common health problem is malnutrition
• Typical meal is cassava and greens (no meat)
• There is no transportation in the village

The District 5330 International Project is a four year project and will start with the major needs of the village; number one is water. We are including with the wells treated mosquito bed netting to help fight the incidence of malaria.  The village has committed to digging three latrines in exchange for the three bore hole wells we are providing. Various needs will be addressed throughout the project  including items such as; farm animals, bee hives, micro-lending, a medical clinic, vocational training, tree planting, sanitation, transportation, farming techniques, agricultural supply and training, to name a few.

If you are interested in supporting any aspect of this project or have an idea to help foster or improve this project please contact Steve or Vicky Wallace at (951) 471-2793 or steve@totallywiredinc.com.