By Founder and President Kurt Dahlin
We are hearing more and more stories like this from our friends in Malawi who receive the gift of a WWFA water well. There are even more children attending and staying in school because we’re installing water wells on the school properties.
A Big Borehole Day
I remember May 26th, 2015, because it was a very busy day visiting 10 boreholes, four of which we installed the year before and six new ones that had been recently completed. That day, we started out by visiting five boreholes in the Katema Mountains.
Kapalulu Village had received their WWFA borehole a year before. Normally when we go to a recent borehole I like to speak to the women about the changes that having accessible and sustainable clean water makes in the village.
I took a number of interviews from some local people. However, at Kapalulu there were a number of young girls in their school uniforms so I asked one of them about the health benefits of a borehole. Her name is Luwiza Joseph she is 10 years old.
Luwiza Joseph’s Story
I wanted to ask her about the changes that year had made in her life. Luwiza said, “I used to get up at 5 am to get one bucket before school. I go to Chileka Primary School and it takes me an hour to walk to school. I knock off school at 12 noon and walk home and eat. About 1 pm, I would go to the Kapalulu River and draw two more buckets of water. It would take me two hours and even up to 3pm to finish collecting water.
Now I get up at 7am to get one bucket of good water and then I will get two more buckets after school. I am finished before 1pm and I have more time to study. After school and after my household chores I now have plenty of time for my studies since the borehole is close by. I have not been sick for a year and have not missed school or been late. I am in standard three and my grades have improved. I am now the third highest in my class. I’m a very good student and my teacher loves me very much.”
Now at WWFA, we’re also building special changing rooms for girls at their schools called Blossom Changing Rooms. This is another reason girls in Malawi want to come to school and stay in school.
Check out our Blossom Project and see the way WWFA supporters are helping girls.
