Current Projects

Here are some of the projects we’re working on right now.

Some of these are in early stages of completion and others are almost done.

To help accelerate our work and get these completed you can donate here.

MdalaApril 1, 2016MDALA/NKWATULA VILLAGE DISTRICT: MANGOCHI CORDINATES: 36L 0711647 UTM 8396366 POPULATION: 527 people NUMBER OF WATER POINTS: 5 The nearest borehole to these villages was almost four miles away at a school in a different village. That borehole already had (still has) many people that depend on it, separate from the school staff and students. People in these two villages previously got their water from sources of two different kinds. The first water point is hand-dug holes. People living far away from a river with year-round flow would dig into the sand along the dry riverbed. After digging, they would wait for the water to fill a shallow plate they would use to slowly fill up their bucket. This took a great deal of time and it meant that much of each day was spent by water bearers (usually women) in trying to make sure that there was water in their home. The second kind of water point is the Sangadzi River. In this case, people make small, round, sand-and-rock dams about three inches deep, leaving about an inch of sand above the river water level. They make these in the shallow river’s path, usually less than a yard in diameter. Once their dam is completed, water slowly begins to seep in through the ring of sand, and they scoop out the water that was trapped during their building process. In this way their water was “filtered” by sand, but everyone knew it was not really clean. They simply had no other choice; many others in Malawi still don’t. While working there, our team met a lady at the river with a one-month-old baby named Dave. She told us, “Every time we come here we have to re-make a dam, because the dam we made just hours ago is taken away by water that is still moving and flattens the dam. This takes time, and I have to leave my infant with my relatives because I cannot carry him while carrying water.” We walked home with her, offering some help, and before she could tell us which house was hers: we heard the baby crying and we knew we’d reached her home. The well you helped to install in this village will reduce this kind of frustration and babies will not notice the long absence of their mother. ...
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Chawa IIApril 1, 2016Chawa II Village District: Mangochi Coordinates: 36L 0711865 UTM 8394934 Population: 367 people. People from this village drink from Sangazi river just like people from Mdala village. Others dig holes in the wetlands and drink from there. Some people especially visitors get sick when they first drink water from these water points. During the rainy season it becomes a challenge because all these water points have dirty water and they even get filled up with sand. ...
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KandeuApril 1, 2016KANDEU VILLAGE DISTRICT: MANGOCHI CORDINATES: 36L 0720511 UTM 8407106 POPULATION: 601 PEOPLE . There is one water point in this area and it is a hand dug well that is dug along a valley that becomes a river only during the rainy season. People wait for hours for their turn to fill their buckets. One time the villagers contributed money in order to hire someone to dig shallow wells so that they can reduce the waiting. Two wells were dug but had a very low yield and were used only for few weeks and they are now dry. People go to another village which is very far. They go there by bicycles to get water from a borehole or a river. Those without bicycles have to borrow from others or walk to the river and get only one bucket and have many rests along the way. People are desperate especially in the dry season because water is only accessed by those with bicycles. They made an access road hoping that one day someone may come to provide a borehole and access road should not be a barrier. This area needs two boreholes to avoiding long hours of waiting at one borehole. One borehole will have a huge workload for all 601 people. ...
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ChangataApril 1, 2016CHANGATA VILLAGE DISTRICT: MANGOCHI POPULATION: 863 people In this village they have two hand dug open wells that they all flock to together with other people from other villages. They queue there waiting for their turn to fill the bucket. They use a small 5Liter bucket tied to a rope and lowered into the well and pulled up after it is filled with water. Then pour the water into a take home bucket and lower it again and again until the take home bucket is full. There is no river in this village and this means that everything and every activity that needs water depends on these two wells. This affects students because the situation forces them to wear dirty clothes and even missing baths. At school they are always laughed at by those who have an easy access to water in their villages. During the dry season both wells dries up and people go to Mwantimba River in Mataka village by bicycles to draw water. Others go to a borehole which is very far away and the only way is by using a bicycle of which not every family has one. They make sure that once they struggle and manage to get 20 liters of water nobody has to waste that by bathing. It is only for drinking and cooking. This is what I was told by Mr Ishmael, “We no longer go for prayers in our mosque because we can not go into a prayer house without taking a bath. Since we do not have water for taking a full bath we do not go to the mosque and this is affecting our spiritual and religious life.” This is true because looking at the people you can easily testify that these people have skipped baths and have not washed for some time. Only when the rain comes is when the Moslems will resume attending prayers and students will no longer be mocked for not taking baths and wearing dirty school uniform. This area also needs two borehole. The other borehole may be located at 36L 0719761 UTM 8406592 ...
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ChiwayaMay 27, 2016Country: Malawi Village: Chiwaya District: Ntcheu Coordinates: Elevation 1502m 36L 0674893 UTM 8330879 Number of households in the village: 412 average 5 per houselolds Number of water points used: 3 Kind of water points: 1 shallow well with a Malda pump (picture below). The shallow hand dug well is 3.4m deep and was dug on 13/12/2011. This dries up during the dry season and this forces people to get water from the river and others travel long distances to find water from a borehole. The remaining two water points are shallow hand dug uncovered wells. Many people get sick from contaminated water especially during the rainy season and dry season. ...
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GoliMay 27, 2016Country: Malawi Village: Goli District: Ntcheu. Coordinates: Elevation 1502m 36L 0675352 UTM 8330917 Number of households: 62 Number of water points: 1 (above picture) During the rainy season the well gets dirty because rain water gets into it because it is along the gully. The other challenge is that it is steep and walking uphill with a heavy bucket of water is not easy for the women and young girls....
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