Nancy Prest's Story
Mrs. Nancy Prest taught Ryan Hreljac in first grade. It was her lesson about the need for clean water in Africa that encouraged six-year-old Ryan to raise funds for a well at Angolo Primary School, Uganda. In 2025, Nancy was invited to visit the well she had inspired over 27 years ago.
This is her story.
AFRICA 2025
Faith, Hope, Love!
It was an extreme honour when Ryan asked me to go to Africa to visit the very first well that was built at Angolo Primary School 1999 in Northern Uganda.
The well that he worked so hard to save for, the well that everyone worked so hard to build with their donations because they trusted in a little boy who believed he could bring clean water to the world!
AND HE DID IT!
It gave us all hope in a way of expectation, optimism and possibilities.
It gave us all faith in a way of commitment, confidence and devotion
It gave us all love in a way of friendship, collaboration, fondness
You have heard the story; you have seen the numbers of wells growing over the past 27 years. I was excited to see what had become of the dream that was borne in my first Grade 1 class at Holy Cross School so many years ago.
What I want to share with you is the breath of the experience, the taste of it and the feeling of it. It is as simple as it is profound, as natural as it is miraculous!
The trip was 10 days, flown across the world to a place I never ever thought of going. The itinerary carefully scripted to allow me, the teacher (now 70 years old) to experience the reality of this little boy’s dream……… Access to clean water for the world!
I went along with Ryan and Deleo’s crew from Divine Aid – (Divine Agency for Integrated Development) to the monitoring visits of Phase II of their three year project (39 communities in the Aromo and Ayami sub counties in Lira District Northern Uganda). We were scheduled to see 13 of the new wells and then on Valentine’s Day go to the First Well ever built at Angolo Primary School.
Ryan’s Well Foundation has been in close partnership with Divine Aid led by Deleo Moses and his staff for over 25 years.
Deleo and team are not just the engineers of the wells but the builders of community within communities, not just the educators but the advisors and collaborators with the people of each village.
The monitoring team for this trip included his gentle and committed staff, so caring, so kind….. Deleo, Dickson and Juliette.
The project was titled: Restoring dignity through increasing Water access, sanitation and hygiene promotion, economic empowerment and Environmental protection. This says it all!
Here is a testimonial from one of the community members. i.e. “I had always dreamed of planting fruit trees, Divine Aid opened my eyes to the possibility of making my own seedlings. On top of the knowledge, we were blessed with a very clean and safe water source that gives us sufficient water for our home hygiene and sanitation needs. I can water trees both in the morning and the afternoon without worries because the water source is in my proximity. I believe in the near future the trees will support my family’s nutritional needs and the surplus will be taken to the market for sale. I am also proud that I am contributing to the protection of our environment. I am truly grateful to our donors for the water source and the invaluable knowledge they have shared with us. “
The water source gave him,
Hope - Expectation, possibility,
Faith – confidence, commitment, dedication
Love – care, friendship, and pride on both sides.
Each well and community was anxiously looking forward to our visits, so welcoming, singing, dancing. Deleo does the translating for us as there are so many dialects. He is so passionate about all of his people, his staff, his work and his country, so proud, so humble. He and his team have built strong wells and strong relationships with each community. They know each other and they look out for each other.
From Lira where the Divine Aid office and our hotel The Lillian Towers is, we get into the Toyota land cruiser…… ¬¬¬¬¬¬ Six of us Ryan, Deleo, Rosemina, Dickson, Juliette and I. We drive for one to two hours…. Thank heavens Dickson knows where he is going. Off the main roads pretty quickly, onto rough country terrain, bumping and jostling. Roads are full of large crevices, soft red dirt shoulders and huge potholes, narrow, path like, only room for one vehicle to get by. How Dickson knows where he is going I have no idea. He drives confidently, yet carefully, patiently through dry desert and uneven ground. Virtually no roads now and few landmarks to my untrained eye…….
We arrive to the first village where they are waiting for us. As “teacher” I am an honoured guest. Not just a teacher, but Ryan’s teacher…the respect and curiosity are felt equally as we meet each other. I am older, bigger, whiter and with red hair quite a change. To me they are all so beautiful from child to elder - big smiles, bright eyes, vivid colours, friendly, open, welcoming and so proud of their village and how they take such good care of their precious well. The well that Ryan believed in, the well that Divine Aid built with them, the well that brought them Hope (possibility and expectation), Faith (dedication and commitment) and Love (friendship and care for themselves and others).
As I untangled myself from the vehicle, I met with the leaders of the community who were eager to show me their books and how they have learned to look after the well. They have elected committees. A chairman, vice chair, secretary and treasurer. The people that use the well pay for the maintenance of it, a fee that is decided upon together that is affordable and agreeable to each member of the village.
The women were anxious that we go to the well, they were dancing and singing and invited me to join with them. I was a little shy at first I must admit and little overwhelmed by it all. The well…..the well…. The well…… accessible water brought to this community (one of thousands of wells now)…….it has changed their lives in so many ways.
Singing, dancing, thanking, welcoming. Gratitude and a sense of accomplishment, pride and joy from all sides.
The women, dressed in beautiful vivid coloured dresses have such a good sense of humour! One woman said to Deleo, “She is the teacher but I think I could give the teacher a few dancing lessons! “
This kind of welcome continued through each of the villages that we visited. In some villages, we were given gifts of live chickens and huge bunches of bananas (matoke). Some very generously offered us a meal, and in one village they put on a 40 minute play that described the whole process of how Ryan’s Well and Divine Aid brought water to their home. It was a true work of art using their village as the set and the villagers as the characters. The marquis if there was one would have read:
The Story of How Safe Clean Water was brought to Leladam B in the Aromo sub county by Ryan’s Well Foundation and Divine Aid presented by the real village people.
We sat under a canopy shaded from the blistering afternoon sun. The play depicted the initial discussions about a new water source, showing that some resisted, the Community outreach from Divine Aid, building the well, training in WASH, how to keep the well in good condition, rules around the well, communication and collaboration within the village itself culminating with how the well looks now, how much the village has benefited from it and how grateful they are. It was very informative, serious and yet full of comedic parts. It definitely rated a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes!
In the two days we visited 13 sites, plus two courtesy visits to the sub county officials in Ayami and Aromo. The upcoming monitoring trip to Western Uganda with another board member Spencer Mulvaney was going to be to 30 different water projects in a very difficult mountainous terrain. They really took it easy on me!
Everyday so exciting, overwhelming, heartwarming.
I was so full of pride at these accomplishments and bursting with joy at the happiness and good health of the people.
He did it! AND HE IS STILL DOING IT!
The dream so simple yet profound, so natural to want to help yet so extraordinary in his perseverance and belief that he was going to do it!
Each well unique, each well remote, each well producing the life changing gift of water………
The breath of it, the touch of it, the feel of it…..
The rough cement enclosure that surrounds each well to protect the treasure within from animals, painted in the blue and green the colours of Divine Aid and Ryan’s Well Foundation. Pumping the water, touching the water, walking in the red earth, smelling the stagnant old water source.
The cool, clean, clear, refreshing, quenching, life giving water, the warmth of the people who brought me there, who looked after me there and all those who welcomed me there.
Heartwarming and heartbreaking too!
There is so much more to do!
This brings us to the final day in the field.
Valentine’s Day Friday, February 14th, 2025.
The trip to the first well sponsored by Ryan’s Well Foundation. The original Ryan’s Well at Angolo Primary School built in 1999.
As we were arriving at the school about 2 hours from Lira, Ryan and I got out of the land cruiser and walked together up the road.
Two little kids (not from the school) were following us up the road keeping a safe distance, curious to see what all the excitement was about. I too was thrilled to see what was at the end of the road!
We passed the well as we headed toward the school itself and the gathering that had been prepared for us! The school had grown from 700 students to 2300.
Just to the right under an enormous Ebuu tree (a variety of sycamore) were the students, the teachers, the local dignitaries, and a parent delegation all waiting for the boy……… REE an! REE an! REE an!
The boy who brought the well to them. They applauded, they clapped, they sang, they danced. It was tremendous! It was the warmest welcome! Warmer than the burning sun!
The students sat in a semi circle facing the adults, very well behaved and engaged in the reception. They had placed some chairs under the shade of the giant Ebuu tree. Our two little friends that had followed us up the road were perched “inconspicuously” in the branches intrigued.
There were introductions, speeches, Prisilla a P6 Grade 6 student shared the poem she had written on water…… so proud, so brave…….discussions, thank yous, gratitudes ….. The children were so attentive and polite.
They just love Ryan! They all wanted to be his pen pal! Ryan challenged them. “If you give me your name and grade before I leave today we will find you a pen pal in Canada!” At first, 10 or 15 children found the paper and a pencil to write the info down and boldly handed the paper to Ryan who put the papers in his pants pockets. Then more and more students were bringing the papers up to Ryan, both his pockets were overflowing!
I took off my hat and started collecting the papers in my hat and still they kept coming, even the shiest ones coming forward now. I endeavoured to thank each one by using their language, “Apwoyo metek” (thank you very much) and saying their names as best I could. They got a kick out of my poor pronunciations but mostly I looked into their big beautiful eyes full of wonder and thanked them as I collected more and more. At one point I had to get a big sac from the vehicle to put all of pen pal requests into. We ended up with over 200!
From the formal circle, I was invited into one of the classroom buildings P1 Grade 1. Very different, approx. 45 children age 6 on a cement floor in a square room, only one window perhaps, a huge well used black board covered the whole wall across the front of the room. The children were seated on the floor with their cahiers and pencils poised. I introduced myself and wrote my name on the board. The teacher translated for me. I drew a picture of our flag with the Maple leaf for Canada. There were no other props or equipment or resources in the room besides the well used blackboard. When Ryan came to the room, they were thrilled! We began to do a simple echo song with the children in English. The children were shy and very respectful.
Then we went out to go to the well. To see the mass of children following Ryan who is at least twice the height of everyone was amazing! Like a Pied Piper, or the Friendly Giant towering over all of them yet enveloped in their midst, he raced them to the well!
Our little interlopers became part of the throng, still following at a discrete distance. What fun this day was for them!
At the well it was chaotic in a good happy way! They all were so full of joy, so proud to show us the water, the pump, the cans to be filled, the water bottles, the protective gates. The water fresh, clear, clean, cool. The water plentiful and easily accessible…..
The water of hope, optimism and possibility for a better life, for better health. The water of faith, building devoted communities, learning and gaining confidence. The water of love, friendships from far and wide, fondness, and care for each other and fellow man. Changing hearts, changing lives………
From the school we got back into our truck quietly, contemplatively, imbued with the thoughts, the feelings and nothing needed to be said. Our two little gate crashers followed the truck back down the road to where we had begun then they disappeared into the dusty landscape.
We drove the 2 hours back to Lira to have a wonderful authentic Northern Ugandan meal prepared by Deleo’s staff at The Divine Aid Offices. A truly perfect way to finish the day…….in community and in gratitude.
We continued a few follow up interviews with Chris ____?, the fantastic videographer and story teller who created The Ripple Effect which is a real and emotional capture of the day and of who and what Ryan’s Well Foundation is.
The boy who believed he could, the boy who did it with your donations, with the help of his family and his community and the growing communities of faith, hope and love.
For the teacher, she made a difference in the life of a child.
For the child, he made a difference in the world.
A simple lesson became profound………..
………………………… an ordinary child became extraordinary!
Thank you seems so small………….
