Masjid Noor, founded by the Bigusi Muslim Development Centre (BMDC) in 2016, serves as a center for religious study in the Lerya Village in eastern Uganda. At its founding, Masjid was a temporary structure and served as a nearby meeting place for Muslims in the community who had previously walked 5 to 10 km to surrounding parishes in order to perform prayers and up to 2 km to the closest stream to retrieve water for ablution. Traveling these great distances,often amid difficult weather conditions, including the rainy seasons, regularly caused worshipers to miss prayers.

Muslims in the community appealed to BMDC to provide a better solution. As a result, an improved Masjid Noor was born on an acre of land donated by community elders, and BMDC began efforts to build an accompanying water well.

Anike Foundation served as sponsor for the two-month improvement project, which included procurement of necessary materials and construction and digging of a borehole for the water well. The finished Masjid, completed in late 2018, serves approximately 400 local parishioners while the water well serves 2,000 community members.

In addition to the organization’s goal of contributing to and strengthening the faith and teaching of Islam in eastern Uganda and providing clean and safe drinking water to surrounding areas, the completed nearby Masjid Noor mosque continues to serve as a center for religious study. Muslims in the community are able to gather for their five daily prayers and Friday congregation sermons. Men and women hold weekly circles to better understand the faith, and children and adults have a chance to learn to read Arabic and recite the Holy Quran.Furthermore, both the parishioners of the mosque and members of community have access to the benefit of an accessible, clean and safe water supply.