During the past three years, hundreds of thousands of persons who had been uprooted by a two-decade old civil war have returned to their homes in Northern Uganda. Of the myriad challenges facing this population, perhaps the two most serious are the absence of clean drinking water and the decimation of the forest.

Lacking access to any protected water source, approximately 60% of the population of Northern Uganda is forced to drink from stagnant pools exposing themselves to water-borne diseases that claim the lives of more than 22,000 Ugandan children every year.

Lifeline has addressed this problem by constructing more than 120 fresh water wells, which are filling the clean water needs of some 100,000 individuals at a cost of about $3.00 a person.

Click here to learn more about Lifeline’s clean water program.

Since 1990, Uganda has lost almost one-third of its forest cover. Literally half of this loss is attributable to cooking on an open fire – a method that is hazardous to human health and that retards living standards.

To address these problems, Lifeline has been stimulating a market for a commercial version of its rocket stove, which is attracting thousands of customers and which offers the potential to create a revolutionary change in cooking habits throughout the region. In the process, Lifeline is building capacity by creating manufacturing jobs and micro-finance opportunities for female entrepreneurs.