By Danielle Beurteaux
Yellow fever. Typhoid. Malaria. Polio. These deadly yet preventable diseases are all too common in Uganda because people don't have access to clean water. "Infant mortality rates are unacceptably high," says Jeff Kaplan. "You hear about lots of disease and lots of missed school and lots of hard life."
The solution? Build wells.
Kaplan, 43, a partner at $2 billion health-care fund Deerfield Partners, is the cofounder and Africa liaison of Busoga Trust America, an organization that helps villagers in the rural Masindi area of northwestern Uganda construct wells so they have access to potable water.
The problem, says Kaplan, is twofold. First, Uganda has the water—the country has a healthy 52-inch average annual rainfall and a high water table—but no water delivery infrastructure. The second issue is a lack of hygiene education, particularly among those of the older generations who don't realize that bad sanitation causes many health problems. The idea isn't to impose cultural beliefs, says Kaplan, but to inform. "You say to them, 'Hey, we're going to educate you on the fact that your kids are getting sick and people are dying because of bad water.' They're on board for change."
Villagers apply to Busoga Trust America, which then checks out the village's sanitation and hygiene. If the village is approved, the villagers provide labor, some materials and a small amount of money to construct their well—each costs $6,000. "The key for us is to partner with the villagers. We're not just giving them a handout."
By the time the well is functional, the villagers have been trained in basic well maintenance and hygiene. Busoga's ambitious goal is to build 200 wells in five years. So far, they've completed 32 wells.
The seed for Busoga Trust America was planted back in 1986 when Ted Huber first visited Uganda with his friend the Reverend Andrew Pearson, the founder of Busoga Trust, which has become the preeminent water resource NGO—they've built almost 2,000 wells since their founding.
In 2007, when Huber, also a partner at Deerfield, felt the time was right to start an American branch of Busoga, he turned to friend and colleague Kaplan. He knew Kaplan had not-for-profit experience with Giving Open Access to Learning, an after-school program at East Harlem's P.S. 171, which Kaplan started in 2003. "I knew he was a not-for-profit entrepreneur," says Huber. "I asked him, 'How do you start a charity?'?"
Kaplan jumped on board and, says Huber, has been vital to the organization's development. Although Busoga Trust America has been in operation only since March 2008 and broke ground for the first well that spring, its fund-raising and data collection has made it a model for other Busoga Trust affiliates. Huber credits Kaplan with spearheading the collection of follow-up statistics on water quality and sanitation improvements. Their goal is to put a metrics system in place to measure long-term health, child mortality, school attendance and economic vitality. It's a huge undertaking, says Huber. "Jeff is such an energetic, passionate guy. He's been really effective."
Kaplan traveled to Uganda for the first time last August and recalls a villager telling him that now that they had a well, life was better, and children weren't getting sick and could go to school. "You can have as many statistics as you want," says Kaplan, "but to hear that, you know it's right."