By Edwin White, WWFA Malawi Drilling Coordinator
I’m happy to report that the Bwanali borehole was installed on 26th of May 2018.
Before they got their own borehole (water well) the Bwanali people were depending on the swamps for their water source. The nearest water well was 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) away so nobody went there from this village.
These swamps that provided “water” to Bwanali were also the homes of frogs, and many times the people of the community scooped up frog eggs and tadpoles when getting water. People were getting sick from waterborne diseases, and sadly, the nearest clinic is also very far away.
In order to reduce the chances of scooping small frogs or eggs, the women would have to take extra time to carefully draw water in small amounts using a plate (not a cup!) and pour it into a bucket. This was very time consuming. At home, people were not even looking into the water before drinking to avoid disappointment because they may see a part of a tadpole or any dead water insect or an egg of a frog.
I personally visited this swamp and I can tell you that this is not an exaggerated story. Their water was not treated in anyway. No boiling or sieving or use of chemicals. Just drink.
During the rainy season this is the only time they say that they were able to get good water after collecting it from the roof. This was only available to those with roofs of corrugated iron sheets.
During drilling of the Bwanali water well, there were difficulties because we thought that we were to use air compression but we found out that it needed drilling with water which is known as mud-drilling. We had to wait for the suitable equipment. It is good that our drillers have both machines.
We could not give up on this village! We just had to wait patiently until the right machine was free to do our project.
The Bwanali people are more than happy to have this safe portable clean water after they exhausted all avenues seeking for help. Their daily words are: “Thanks WWFA!”
And we, at WWFA, thank all the great supporters who help make wells like this one possible!
You can help install a well in a village just like Bwanali! Please visit our Donation Page today. We thank you!
