Bangu Well Improvement Project – Phase 3 – Malawi

Location
Bangu Village, Mimosa, Mulanje District, Southern Region, Malawi

Community Description
Bangu Village is a small but highly populated community in the district of Mulanje, just east of Mt. Mulanje. There are about 3,000 people in the village and the surrounding area.

Community members have been forced to walk up to 2 kilometers to obtain safe drinking water. The Bangu Village Water Committee, a branch of the Bangu Village Development Committee, embarked on a program to hand-dig wells within the village.

Two previous Peace Corps Volunteers in the area have helped the community to cement six hand dug wells and repair a total of nine wells under the Bangu Well Project – Malawi and the Bangu Village Well Improvement Project – Malawi.

However, still more work needs to be done. 5 additional wells are leaking and often do not fill up, and the community is forced to drink the dirty runoff water. Standing water around the wells attracts mosquitos.

Project Description
This project is to repair 5 wells in the Bangu Village area.

Under the direction of the Bangu Village Development Committee, work will be done by masons to protect the wells from the entry of contaminants, prevent the accumulation of mud and standing water, and increase general water source sanitation.

Cement will be used to patch some large leaks around the bottoms of some of the wells and to build more complete cement platforms around the well bases.

Funds from Appropriate Projects will be used to purchase cement, transport it to the site, and pay the masons for skilled labor.

The community has already dug the wells, and the members are doing the best they can to keep them up. They will be involved in collecting quarry stone, river sand and other materials needed to make concrete. They are also planting lemongrass and other plants around these water sources to help prevent erosion and reduce mosquitos.

Project Impact
3,000 people will benefit from this project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Esther Baumann

Comments
The improvement of the wells will ensure a viable water source in the dry season. It will also provide great health benefits through the control of mosquitos.

This project exemplifies several Water Charity philosophies and objectives. It is high-impact, low-cost, and uses the appropriate technology. Also significant is the replication of proven methods over a period of time, as shown by 2 prior projects by former Peace Corps Volunteers.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of AquaBio Environmental Technologies, of Marina del Rey, CA, USA, with help from friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Esther Baumann.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Esther of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Esther and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.