Installation of solar water booster pump, solar panels, pipes, kiosks and digging trenches to Madango, Mjulu, Zgambo and Mkotameni communities in Mzimba district.

About this Project

Malidade Community Based Organization will use $7,988.73 to extend an existing water supply to four new villages in Malidade, Traditional Authority Mthwalo in Mzimba District in the northern region of Malawi. The extension of tapped water to new villages builds on the previous water project, which could only supply four villages, thereby guaranteeing availability of tapped water in all the eight villages in Malidade. Availability of water kiosks in every village will help all residents to experience reduced distance to safe clean and safe water points and put the village on a solid trajectory to reduce incidents of water borne diseases. 

Three weeks after funding, Malidade Community Based Organization led by Timothy Munthali has completed the first phase of its water extension project. Communities excavated 1.8 kilometers of trenches, laid pipes, constructed a booster pump house and successfully installed the pump providing water to one village out of the planned four.  The people of Mjulu have already seen the benefits of the project reducing distance from 2.5 kilometers to 100 members to access clean and safe drinking water.  The project has also motivated the Chankhanga community which has approached the EFP to  support them in implementing a similar project using locally owned resources.  Construction and fixing water kiosks in the remaining three villages will mark full completion of the project.

In four communities across Mzimba District — Madango, Mjulu, Zgambo, and Mkotameni — access to safe water used to mean a 2–3 kilometer walk. That changed in 2023.With a $7,989 grant from World Connect, a solar-powered booster pump system was installed between August 2022 and June 2023, feeding a 3-kilometer pipe network and four community water kiosks. More than 6,300 people now access clean water within 100 meters of their homes, with a further 7,500 benefiting indirectly.

The results speak for themselves: a 70% reduction in waterborne diseases, increased school enrollment for girls, fewer early marriages, and greater economic participation among women in agriculture and small enterprises.The project didn't stop at water. It sparked training centers, inspired neighboring communities to replicate borehole construction, and left behind a sustainability plan built on maintenance funds, youth technical training, and environmental conservation.This is what community-driven development looks like — and it started with a single pump and the sun.