Providing clean water for school children in Malawi

37% of rural Malawians do not have have access to clean water. This leads to subpar living standards and health for Malawians, as evidenced by a recent cholera outbreak.

From 2022 to 2024, there was a protracted cholera outbreak which killed 1,772 people, making it the worst outbreak in the country's history with nearly 60,000 cases.

To combat any future outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases safer drinking sources must be built. Think Malawi has partnered with Malawian-based charity Tingathe Development Forum to build a borehole for the children of Kanyenje Primary School which will provide them with safe drinking water.

In Nkhotakota district, Kanyenje Primary School faces serious challenges in providing children with clean water for drinking and other usage. Currently, the nearly 700 children (330 boys and 365 girls) between the ages of 6 to 14 who attend the school must walk more than 2 kilometers to get water from a well that is often overcrowded by other villages and dry because of extreme weather conditions caused by climate change and environmental degradation.

During the rainy season, these children are forced to drink water from the nearby contaminated and unhygienic local river. This river has led to 30 villagers in Kanyenje Community dying of cholera in 2022-2023 according to the local community clinic with many of these deaths coming from school children.

Alongside these deaths, the dirty river water has led to absenteeism from a large number of children or lack of attendance due to no clean water supply at the school. Girls are most seriously affected as during their menstruation period they find it difficult to clean themselves due to the lack of local clean water or sanitary facilities which leads to bullying and school dropouts.

To solve this issue the school management, the community and Tingathe Development Forum have agreed that the school should be supported by a reliable water source which can be used for the establishment of a small garden with fruits and vegetables which would be beneficial for the students' health, as well as a clean water source.

To create this water source a 70 meter deep borehole-type well has been agreed by the school and local community to be the most effective method to provide clean and safe water for the school. A recent hydro-geophysical survey has revealed that this borehole-well will be a realistic and feasible activity to be implemented near the school. This activity is pictured below.

Once the borehole is built there are 4 expected positive impacts of this project predicted by the Tingathe Development Forum:

1. Access to clean water for the nearly 700 children and nearby villagers.

2. Reduced travel time from 1 hour walking over 2km to only 1 or 2 minutes.

3. Reduction in water borne diseases as the students will not be drinking contaminated river water after the project.

4. Improved academic performance due to access to water and reduced absenteeism.

Alongside these aims this project will also be sustainable to provide clean water for long-term, not just short-term:

1. A Wells Management Committee will be formed of 5 women and 5 men who will monitor the well’s use and condition from the start.

2. The community will establish a Water Maintenance Fund which will support its long-term sustainability with payments from each villager every four months kept in the village bank account specifically opened for the project

3. 30 selected individuals, including all 10 of the Well Management Committee will have specialised training on how to manage, repair, clean and maintain the pumping wells monitoring any problems associated with the wells' functioning.

Think Malawi will continue updating our readers on this project and other similar projects throughout this year on this website, however, there are other ways to also stay updated through our social media such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X or join our monthly newsletter.

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