Wells of Life (WOL) is a non-profit organization whose aim is to provide rural Ugandans access to safe and clean water.
[2] Wells of Life was founded in 2008 by Nick Jordan, a real estate agent from Laguna Beach and a native of Ireland, who recognized the urgent need for clean water during a visit to Uganda.
The Italian Catholic Federation, which initiated the Pope Saint John XXIII Award in 1970, grants this honor as their highest recognition to a layperson of any denomination who demonstrates outstanding humanitarian service to society.
Perry Shurko, the Italian Catholic Federation member who nominated Jordan, stated, "No human being should ever be deprived of these essentials, and I applaud Nick's extraordinary efforts to save lives and provide greater opportunities for Uganda's poorest communities.
This approach, developed in collaboration with the Ugandan government and other organizations, aims to break the cycle of external donor dependency and foster sustainable water access.
Mayiga also sits on Wells of Life's Advisory Board, and in the summer of 2023 he visited their headquarters in California to thank them for the contribution they have made by bringing water to the people of Buganda.
In 2020, Wells of Life partnered with She for She, a Ugandan-based social enterprise that provides sustainable menstrual kits to young women in rural areas.
In September 2023, the Ugandan Water Project and Wells of Life joined together to deploy "mWater" water point mapping as part of the Rural and Urban Management Information System (RUMIS) pilot in Kabale District, Uganda as well as two additional districts: one in the Eastern Region and one in the Karamoja Region.
[21][22][23] Wells have also been donated to mark special occasions,[24] and to honour individuals posthumously, such as Billy Graham,[25] the victims of the September 11 attacks,[26] and six Irish students who died in a balcony collapse in Berkeley, California in 2015.
The program implementation takes approximately 12 months in order to educate the community on how to build and use latrines, ending open defecation and thus eliminating fecal contamination.
[failed verification] The Legacy Circle is a group of individuals who commit to five-year pledges to fund Wells of Life's operational costs.