St. Lawrence water project in Malawi

St. Lawrence Capuchin parish in Zomba diocese was the place of the second “Well4Africa” water project in Malawi. The first one in Namane was a simple manually pumped borehole. The second project included a solar energy system, electric water pump and water tower.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi parish is situated in the remote area of Zomba diocese, in the outskirts of the municipality of Zomba, Malawi’s old capital city. People around the parish are subsistence farmers growing corn and vegetables for living. St. Lawrence parish with a good number of Secular Franciscans was a justified place for implementation and maintenance of a new water project, since “Well4Africa” usually works with the OFS or other branches of the Franciscan Family and enables local communities to develop water projects themselves, just supporting them with funds and technical suggestions.

St. Lawrence water project included the drilling of the borehole, installing an electric water pump, building a pump house, installing a solar energy system connected with the electric pump, building a supporting frame holding two 5000-liter water tanks and installing an underground pipeline system.

The borehole was drilled on 4 November 2019. The contractor drilled 73 meters down into the ground and found a water vein which yields 800 litres of water per hour (this capacity was measured during the driest season of the year). During the rainy season, the locals expect this borehole to yield 1,000 litres per hour or more. A water pump with the capacity of 2,200 litres per hour was installed. A pump house with three solar panels on its roof was built. With the help of these solar panels, both water tanks are filled in 5 hours. The construction of the supporting frame for water tanks and the laying of underground pipes also went smoothly.

At the moment, around 85 households benefit from St. Lawrence water project. Women and children who are responsible for bringing water to their families benefit the most. Local people report that fresh and clean water has reduced their stress, diseases and suffering, has brought more hygiene, happiness and hope. The community has learnt the spirit of sharing. More than 1,000 people could benefit from the project if the underground pipe system was extended to other villages.

The works have been implemented by “Niho systems” 4 November 2019 – 10 February 2020. The total amount of the project was 12,839.44 Euros, which was equivalent to 10,464,143.60 Malawian Kwacha.