CIDA grants $500,000 for Ugandan water project
BURLINGTON, ON–Unlike KAIROS, the social justice charity that lost all its federal funding in November 2009 for reasons that still remain unclear, Crossroads Christian Communications seems to have no problem staying on the government's good side.
Last month, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) awarded Crossroads $500,000 for a project to bring clean water and improved sanitation to remote rural areas of northern Uganda.
CIDA will donate three dollars for every dollar that Crossroads is able to raise during a telethon this fall on “100 Huntley Street," its flagship television program.
This is just the latest joint project in a partnership that began in 1999.
“In every year since then, we've had one active project with CIDA on the go," says Crossroads' director of missions Dave Shelley.
The only rationale that Bev Oda, the minister responsible for CIDA, has ever given for the decision to defund KAIROS was that its mandate no longer aligned with CIDA's priorities. That has apparently never been an issue for Crossroads.
“There's a set of standards for faith-based organizations working with CIDA. We find them pretty clear and easy to understand," Shelley says.
“If we ever have a question, we just phone them up and say, 'Is this appropriate or not appropriate?' We really haven't run into that problem at all."
In fact, Shelley believes Crossroads' long-standing partnership with CIDA virtually guarantees that its supporters will rise to the challenge. “They really like it when we try to max out the dollars that they donate," he says. “And with CIDA matching, there's not many better ways to do it."
The project, which will run to the end of 2013, involves digging 54 wells in communities across northern Uganda. Each new well will provide clean water to upwards of 2,500 people. Volunteers will also build 30 latrines in strategic locations such as community markets, repair broken wells, and train residents in hygiene practices.
The benefits are expected to go well beyond improved health through a reduction in waterborne diseases.
“Girls and women walk several kilometres twice a day, and wait several hours for water," said Burlington-area Conservative MP Mike Wallace, in making the announcement on Oda's behalf. “By reducing that time, this initiative will allow girls the chance to attend school, and women the chance to provide additional income and care for their families."
Crossroads has been on the ground in northern Uganda since late 2005, toward the end of a brutal, 20-year armed conflict fomented by a rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army.
At first, it helped people displaced by the violence to return to their villages, and gave them the means to begin growing their own food again. After a couple of years, it became evident that the region also faced a huge problem with unsafe water. That was when Crossroads asked CIDA to get involved.
“We pitched a proposal," says Shelley. “They recognized the need and gave us the maximum allowed for this kind of project."
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