Agnes' story

Agnes Wilson, Machinga district, Malawi.

Credit: WaterAid/Layton Thompson

The Shire River, in the Machinga district of Malawi, is the primary water source for thousands of people who live in its surrounding rural communities. However, the river is dangerous; harbouring waterborne diseases and another deadly threat.

Agnes was nearly killed in a crocodile attack which has left her badly injured, unable to work and too scared to go back to the river. In her own words she describes the attack:

"When the crocodile caught me, I started screaming as it was trying to pull me into the water, and then my two sons rushed into the river – they had a spear in their hands and they put this into the crocodile's mouth so it eventually released me.

"Then they rushed me to the hospital as my hand was broken. I had a deep wound here, so I had to go back to the hospital three times to try and get them to repair it."

In April 2009 WaterAid installed a safe water point in Agnes' village. Now her community spends less time collecting water, allowing children to go to school and women to work. By 2012 WaterAid aims to reach a total of 44,000 people in the Machinga district of Malawi.

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Other donation methods By Direct Debit: Call 020 7793 4594 or print a DD mandate* By CAF Card: Donate online with your CAF Card  (What's this?) By phone: Call 020 7793 4594 By post: Print the one-time donation form or the monthly direct debit donation form and post to: Freepost RRRZ-YRRB-ELKE, WaterAid, Melksham, SN12 6YY		Regular giving goes a long way £2 a month, over a year, is as little as it could cost to help give a person safe, clean water for life. £5 a month, over a year, could pay for one pit latrine for two households in Mali. £15 a month, over a year, could rehabilitate a borehole with a pump - providing water for up to 250 people in Zambia.