Hot weather: Christians urged to drink more water to keep cool

LIRA, March 30, 2024 – The Christians in the Lango Sub-region have been called upon to drink more water to keep their bodies cool during the hot weather being experienced in the region and the rest of Uganda.

This was said by the Bishop of Lango Diocese, Prof. Alfred Olwa during Good Friday prayers held at St Augustine Church of Uganda in Lira City West Division.

Bishop Prof. Alfred Olwa called upon Christians to ensure they have drinking water in their bags whenever they are moving, saying hot weather has killed people in some countries.

“These days, it is very hot, it is also killing people in other countries such as South Sudan. Don’t over move in sunshine. Always have drinking water in your bags everywhere you. In public gatherings like this, a lot of heat gets generated and sometimes people can collapse and die,” he said.

On his part, Denis Okello, a resident of Kole district prayed that God intervenes to save the locals in the district from hot weather. “The hot weather is very unfriendly; we need to pray to God so that He can intervene. Something should be wrong somewhere,” Okello said

Patrick Buchan Ocen, the Lira District Health Officer explained that it is necessary for people to drink more water, saying it helps the body to retain water and keep cool during the hot weather.

Ocen said the vital functions of the body are prone to malfunction when more water is lost during the dry season.

“During dry season, the external temperature is always higher than normal body temperature, we lose water even when talking and also through sweat. We begin to have body aches, headache because of cellular dehydration. In most cases it impairs a lot of body vital functions such as the kidneys because they are responsible for cells and water reabsorption but the body undergoes a defensive mechanism by conserving water through releasing small volumes of urine,” Ocen noted.

He advised people to drink salty water to enable the body to absorb more water, adding that the Government should also provide for saline water to areas that experience extreme heat during the dry season.

“You should not drink very cold water. But also while you are drinking warm water, it should be a little salty because the salt in the water will help you to retain water and reduce water loss. Government should have made as a recommendation, a deliberate efforts to make sure that saline water is provided to places that experience hot temperature during dry season,” he added.

According to Leonard Otika, the Lira City Environment Officer, the temperature in Lira rose up to 38°C a week ago, from 27°C recorded earlier.

Otika attributed the rise in temperature to human activities such as deforestation, and poor agricultural practices among others.

“Last week the temperature of Lira went up to 38°C and yet in the past it used to be at 27°C, we have a lot of heat as a result of human activities and primarily rudimentary agricultural practices, deforestation and degradation of wetlands which gives way to bare land that doesn’t trap moisture emissions into the atmosphere,” said Otika.

He called upon people to practice good agricultural practices as well as plant more trees to mitigate risks associated with hot weather in the future.

“Trees have roles to play, therefore people should plant more trees and change their ways of living like engaging into smart agriculture then we shall be good to go,” he said.

According to Uganda Weather and Climate Chart, Uganda has little year-round fluctuation in temperature whereby the hottest months are January and February when the average daytime range is 24°C to 33°C [75°F to 91°F] with peaks of up to 40°C/104°F in the far north.

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