Villagers in the Malawian villages of Mzito and Bindubindu are celebrating the arrival of clean water sources with the opening of two boreholes, principally funded by a £10,000 grant from the Halcrow Foundation.

Construction of the third borehole under the scheme – for the village of Boti – has been delayed by the early arrival of the rainy season.

Once completed, work will begin on the next stage of the project – repairing ten boreholes in the surrounding region. Together, the new and repaired boreholes will supply 6,000 people with this vital resource.

Without the boreholes, villagers have to resort to sharing water sources with domestic animals, including open wells, marshes, swamps and streams. The result is perpetual health problems, including diarrhoea, bilharzias, typhoid, cholera and scabies.

The scope of the project includes:

	assessment
	outline design
	hydro-geophysical surveys
	application for water rights (to drill and abstract)
	community mobilisation
	drilling of boreholes and fitting of head-works
	water quality testing

The project sponsor is Alec Martin from Halcrow, who is a founding member of the Chipuli Foundation that will implement the works.