Like A Dream

Malawi is a small country located in central Africa and is one of the world's least developed and most densely populated countries. With its huge humanitarian and socio-economic development challenges, over 1 million Malawians do not have access to safe drinking water.

The Blantyre district is one of Malawi’s most deprived districts with almost half the population having no access to safe drinking water.

Arduous Journey

Lita Chitela lives with her 4 children in Kaning’a village in the Blantyre district. Lita and her husband Khester are farmers and are dependent on water for their livestock and agriculture. Lita used to wake up at 4:00 am to fetch water from Likulu River, approximately 2½ kilometers away.

Lita could only fetch two buckets of water a day, one for drinking & cooking and another for washing and bathing, although this would not be sufficient for her children, whom would bathe in the river.

Hand Pump Installation

Islamic Relief responded to the dire situation through the drilling of boreholes and the installation of hand pumps in five villages in the Blantyre district, benefiting approximately 11, 000 people.

Like a Dream

Following the hand pump installation in Kaning’a village, Lita no longer has to wake up at 4:00 am to fetch water, and has more time to carry out her domestic chores. “Before the borehole I used to fetch only two 20 litre buckets a day but now I fetch a minimum of 4 buckets a day, and all the family members bathe at home”, Lita said.

“It’s like a dream that our village has a borehole, we are now real human beings with potable water