Earlier this year, one of our newest partners, the Our AIM Foundation (OAF), requested grant funding from Bread and Water for Africa® to assist the organization in the construction of seven boreholes (water wells) in rural villages in Malawi.
OAF program manager Ishmael Kadango noted that hundreds of millions of people around the world, and especially in sub-Saharan African countries such as Malawi suffer illness, and even death, every year from easily preventable waterborne diseases.
“The world’s number-one killer is unsafe water,” notes Ishmael. “The child mortality rate is very high in Malawi due to unsafe water,” adding that 90 percent of the world’s deaths due to malaria is caused by a lack of clean water, and tragically one if five children in the country “do not live to see their 5th birthday because of malaria.”
While OAF and Bread and Water for Africa® have been working independently to dig wells and protect springs in sub-Saharan Africa, for the first time this year thanks to our supporters, we were able to team up with OAF to construct the boreholes in the Malawian villages.
Ishmael informed us that the boreholes would be constructed close to schools where students can be encouraged to practice safe hygiene, particularly in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The project will also prioritize communities which do not have access to drinking water,” he said. “Water and sanitation are basic, but essential human needs.”
Today, we are pleased to report that the seven boreholes, each serving a surrounding population of approximately 200 residents of villages including Chiputu, Chawala, Chaponda and four others.
While these seven projects have been completed, ensuring that an estimated 1,500 Malawians, primarily women and girls, will no longer have to several miles in each direction to fetch water, this is not the end of our budding relationship with OAF as we hope to continue our partnership to provide clean water to thousands more in 2022 and beyond.
“Now, hundreds have access to potable water right outside the door,” says Ishmael.
