Water Works
Water, Sanitation and Tree Planting in Malawi
Since 2009, Water Works have assisted 138 Malawian villages to construct and maintain water points, provided safe drinking water for 22,300 people, supported 4,880 families to build hygienic latrines, helped a primary school with 300 students build two blocks of latrines and run hygiene awareness sessions for 8,500 people. This project involved mobilising and supporting communities to address and improve their water, sanitation and hygiene behaviours through the provision of a hygiene awareness programme; assisting them to construct latrines and hand-washing systems at household level; and Improving their water source through the construction of an affordable and sustainable waterpoint in each village. Community-based management of the waterpoint ensured skills transfer and the establishment of a system of collecting user contributions for the upkeep of the waterpoint.
To keep previously constructed water points in good repair, villagers are empowered to maintain good hygiene practice and prevent any relapse. With regular checks on waterpoints, pump technicians work with villages to carry out any repairs and refresher hygiene awareness programmes are run. In addition to the core WASH interventions, this project also introduced tree planting. Fruit and forestry tree seedlings were supplied to be located in disused latrine pits exploiting the nutrients left there and a small village copse was planted for the provision of firewood.