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TV presenter Christine Bleakley has made an uplifting visit to Uganda to see how some of the money raised for Sport Relief 2012 is already hard at work changing lives across Africa.
Christine visited one of the many schools in Kampala where the cash is being spent to help reduce preventable waterborne diseases, including diarrhoea – which kills more children under five than AIDS, measles and malaria combined. New water tanks are providing safe water for the entire school, and brand new toilet blocks are giving children a safe, clean and private place to go to the toilet.
Sport Relief 2012 raised a huge £67.9 million, and in response to the public’s generosity the UK Government matched some of the money. This money is being used to improve conditions in urban slums across Africa, and as Christine witnessed, is already making a big difference to poor and vulnerable people.
Christine said: “I’ve always been a huge supporter of Sport Relief – after all I was crazy enough to water-ski the English Channel back in 2010! So it’s fantastic to see how the cash raised from this year’s campaign is already helping to give children a better future.
“I met some amazing kids whose lives have already been changed by their new water tanks and toilets. It was very upsetting to hear how often they used to get sick from drinking dirty water and that one glass of water could even be fatal. I can’t imagine being a teenage girl and having to share such basic, filthy toilets with hundreds of others. The work that is being done to change all this is just brilliant.”
Access to safe water and improved sanitation will enable long-term, sustainable change that will transform lives. Better health will result in increased attendance in schools and this in turn will bring economic benefits, enabling people to improve their future.
