In the distance beyond her home, thirteen-year-old Maureen can still see the sugarcane fields that line the well-worn path to swamp her entire village used to rely on for drinking water.

She remembers how her heart would beat faster on her walks through the sugarcane.

“As girls, it was a threat to get water,” she said. “Two years ago, a girl my age was attacked; men and strong boys would hide in the sugarcane to grab girls… and babies age five and six were kidnapped at the swamp.”

For years, women and children endured these dangers for a drink of contaminated water.

But, today, fear has no place in the village of Busikwe, Uganda. Safe water abounds at the well in the center of the community. For Maureen, fear has been replaced with hope. “We are proud of our new safe water,” she said. “It is near our home and we are hoping for good futures.”