Malawi: Water Sprouts from the First Well of the Yearl

The people carrying out ICEIDA’s water and sanitation project in Monkey Bay are working hard to drill for water and dig wells to ensure the residents´ access to clean and uncontaminated water. “The first well was dug in Nankumba district at the beginning of August. After having drilled for eight hours, water was found at the depth of 80 metres. The villagers were very happy since they, up until now, had to get water from contaminated springs far away from the village,” says Glúmur Baldvinsson, ICEIDA’s Project Manager for the water and sanitation project.

Glúmur says that all of the villagers were there and the women danced and sung. “The women solely take care of carrying water, doing laundry and handling the water like is common in Africa. The children cheered loudly like Icelandic children watching fireworks. The Permanent Secretary of State at the Ministry of Waterworks and Water Development, Adrina Mchiera, was present when the water sprouted from the earth and expressed great satisfaction with the project and ICEIDA’s contribution. She, along with the Minister, is going to visit the people working on the project in late August when the thirtieth and last well will be dug this year,” says Glúmur.

Close collaboration with the locals

The project started last year and thirty wells were dug, three deep waterholes and twenty-seven shallow wells. In addition, three thousand environmentally sound toilets were built. Glúmur says that the project is carried out in close collaboration with the locals which, among other things, supply labour and materials as can be arranged since they have the ownership and the goal is that the knowledge of well-making and the building of ecologically friendly toilets will remain in the area to ensure sustainability. All of the people working on the project are Malawians except for Glúmur.

The goal this year is to dig 150 waterholes, drill for 300 wells and build eight thousand ecologically friendly toilets. “We are racing against time because the project has to be finished before the raining season starts in December. When the rain comes in full force everything is flooded and constructions mostly stop in the country,” says Glúmur.

The main goal of the project is to improve the health of the residents of Mangochi and thereby increase their prosperity. Diseases that are caused by dirty drinking water and uncleanliness are common, such as diarrhoea and cholera. There have regularly been cholera outbreaks and Glúmur says that as many as 33 thousand people have been infected and 100 people have died every year in this district. “Dirty and contaminated drinking water and poorly-finished toilets attract insects like mosquitoes and that greatly increases the threat of malaria. We work closely with the authorities with the aim of assisting them to reach the Millennium Development Goals and their own goals of economic growth and development,” he says.