Families: 79 households (across 3 villages)
Water Committee: 5 men and 5 women

When the people of Limbe talk about the Mua River, they remember digging—not simply walking—to find water. During the dry season, the riverbed could be completely dry. Families dug as deep as five meters into the sand, sometimes spending six hours or more to return with a single bucket. One person was injured while collecting water and had to be carried to the hospital.

The consequences were severe. In 2023, five people from the community died during the cholera epidemic. Families regularly walked 15 kilometers to the clinic, leaving as early as 4 a.m. and returning that evening. Even after making the journey, medicine was often unavailable. Some families were spending 35,000 to 60,000 Kwacha a month on clinic visits and medication.

Since the well was installed, the community has had no waterborne illnesses. The money that once went toward medical care can now be used for food, school fees, and farming supplies. Families who could previously manage only two buckets a day can now collect five, six, or even ten.

For the first time, people can farm during the dry season. Two new gardens are producing tomatoes and vegetables for both meals and income. Families are also molding bricks, raising chickens and goats, and washing clothes and dishes with enough water left over to bathe properly.

Water collection once created tension at home, too. Women could be gone for hours, leading to arguments and suspicion from their husbands, while fights were common at the water point. Those conflicts have eased now that water is nearby.

The change is especially visible among the children. Before, many arrived at school late, with dirty clothes, or stayed home altogether. Now, all the school-aged children are attending. Violet, who remembers the water challenges firsthand, has children dreaming of becoming a police officer, teacher, and nurse.

“We appreciate water is life. The well has helped us to have dreams and our lives have now completely changed.”