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WaterAid's Winter Appeal Donate Now

WaterAid's Winter Appeal Donate Now

Join determined families in Chinganji this winter. Help turn on the taps and make sure that where there’s water, there’s powerful change.

WaterAid has been working in Malawi since 1999, and first started working in the Mangochi district in 2021. Working alongside our partners and residents there, we constructed a borehole, and installed three water tanks and eight taps in Chinganji.

Photo of two children laughing whilst crouching next to a water tap and washing their hands, Malawi. Photo credit: WaterAid/Dennis Lupenga

This has supplied 201 students in the local Namwiri Primary School and 786 people in nearby villages with clean water. This project was the pilot for work in this region and this year we plan to expand the project to reach the nine remaining villages on the outskirts of Chinganji that do not currently have clean water.

This project will reach all nine villages via two different water systems.

Phase I
The first water project will extend the pipe network from the existing water system at Namwiri Primary School, and build another water system. We will also help build toilets and handwashing facilities at the school. This can help provide 1,830 people with clean water and 437 school children with decent toilets, soap and handwashing stations in Chinganji.

Phase II

The second part of the project will reach the last four villages. Here we will install a solar-powered water system and set up water storage tanks.

The two projects combined will equip nine more communities, some 1,830 people, with clean water.

Map of Malawi with Mangochi District highlighted

Here's where you come in:

photo of a water tap, Photo Credit: WaterAid/Sophie Harris-Taylor

Tap

$30 can pay for a tap in Chinganji, so children like Merifa and her friends have life-saving clean water close to home.

image of a large water tank

Water tank

Sterile storage tanks will store the water pumped up from underground for clean water 365 days a year.

Photo of items in an emergency hygiene kit | WaterAid

Hygiene kit

Hygiene kits help provide dignity and comfort for a family during an outbreak of Cholera or other waterborne diseases.

Photo of a solar panel as used in water projects

Solar panel

Gift the cost of the solar panel hardware that will power the water pump for four villages in Phase II of the project.

Before and after clean water

Chinganji, Malawi is currently a place of have and have nots. Some households have clean water. But 305 households are currently without it.

The “have not” residents face a daily struggle to find clean water, relying on unprotected shallow wells that frequently dry up due to increased drought and high demand. When they have to walk long distances to reach boreholes in neighboring villages, their dreams go unrealized, and they are in danger of contracting deadly diseases like cholera.

We have a solution

Extending our existing pipe network and establishing the second water system will mean the entire Chinganji area will have access to sustainable, clean water. No more haves and have-nots, all 1,830 people will have the same opportunities. Building toilets and WASH facilities at the local school also means 437 school children will have decent toilets, soap and handwashing stations.

During the time it takes to build this long-term solution, another way you can help families in immediate need is through hygiene kits. 

Photo Credit:WaterAid/Sophie Harris-Taylor

Chinganji was one of the communities impacted by Malawi’s recent cholera crisis. Water sources are compromised when sanitation systems are destroyed with increasing frequency by extreme weather events. Because cholera is preventable with clean water and soap, WaterAid often issues hygiene kits as part of our emergency response in areas where we work. Simple items help families stay healthy until more permanent repairs can be made. We source all materials locally, however most kits feature the following core items:

Picture of products routinely used in a hygiene kit

WaterAid distributes hygiene kits in the aftermath of floods, earthquakes or cyclones or if there is an outbreak of a waterborne diseases and costs just $156.

WINTER APPEAL DONATION MATCH - DOUBLE YOUR GIFT!
All gifts from individuals below $5,000 will be matched by an anonymous donor until Tuesday, December 3, 2024 11:59pm PST

Meet the community of Chinganji

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Harriet

Harriet

Why WaterAid?

Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 29 million people with clean water.  We work hand in hand with communities to install systems that are locally owned, repaired and maintained. 

We believe in long-term change.