Father Peter was born in the a small, remote village about four hours by car from Kampala just south of the Equator near Lake Victoria in Uganda. Only about 400 people live there today, in small homes on either side of a dry dirt road. Lush foliage, banana, avocado and mango trees, subsists on the periodic tropical rains. To this day, most homes still do not have running water nor electricity.
Fr. Peter grew up on a small farm with his parents and 13 siblings. His father, Bruno, was a teacher who had only a small salary to support them. His mother, Josephine, cared for the children at home and worked in the family garden.
Water had to be carried in jugs or “jerry cans” from a polluted stream down a steep hill. Those who live on the mountain side, and those who live far from the stream must walk for up to three hours. The children and women are the ones that carry the water, which must be boiled before being consumed. There is not sufficient water to cultivate crops.
Fr. Peter walked barefoot almost four miles each way with some of his brothers, sisters, and neighbors to the Catholic school located at the parish of Bethlehem. Later he was sent to St John’s Catholic High School in Kabuwoko. But he never forgot his family in the village, nor his parish. He never forgot carrying water from that stream to his house every day and the terrible lack of water in his village and at the school in Bethlehem. Going back to his village to install a water well for his village and another well at his elementary school in Bethlehem, was Fr. Peter’s dream.
—- continue: How his dream came true —-
Paraphrased from:
https://www.icbyte.org/index.php/news/diocesan-news/2316-ugandan-priest-at-riverside-parish-realizes-lifelong-dream-of-bringing-water-to-his-village
Saint Bruno Project 