First Well - Aweil, southern Sudan.
Our first water project was in the community where Sam and Cody's father was living in southern Sudan. It was an informal project that was supervised by a UN colleague named Mehdi Imtiaz. As the photos indicate, it was dug by hand and finished with bricks purchased by vendors at the side of the road. We were told that approximately 100 families (~600 people) were making use of this well.
Second Well - Malawi
Once Sam and Cody decided that this was going to be a continued effort, Wells for Well-Being went through the effort of becoming a Registered Charity in Canada. One of the stipulations of becoming a registered charity in Canada is that we needed to have an agent on the ground to supervise the projects. Sam and Cody's father, Bill, met a gentleman at an Engineers Without Borders conference who works for the Malawi Water Works and agreed to volunteer to be our agent on the ground. Our friend Edwin Mchilikizo knows the needs of his country, chooses the location for the next water project, screens and helps select the contractors, and supervises the construction. The water is tested for quality, and the wells that are installed in Malawi are properly maintained. As Bill noticed in Sudan, water projects that are not properly maintained will soon become useless as pumps break down and repairs become dependent on spare parts and expertise, neither of which is always readily available.
Third Well - Malawi
Our third wall was in a community in Malawi called Moto. In the images below:
a. Map indicating the location of Moto
b. This is how the people of Moto were getting their water before the well went in. As you can imagine, water-borne diseases would have been a problem there.
c. Great anticipation int he community as the team arrives to do the work.
d. Equipment for installing the well arrives
e. Work underway. Our friend Edwin Mchilikizo is in the light blue shirt
f. Project nearing completion. Edwin supervises.
g. The women of Moto, looking forward to an improvement in their quality of life
h. Finished product.
Fourth Well - Water for Christmas in Nyalavu Malawi - Completed early 2019!
The village of Nyalavu, Malwi has about 45 families and a population of approximately 250 people. Previously their only source of water was an open source as shown in the photos below. Obviously this is unhealthy for all inhabitants, particularly the children who are vulnerable to various waterborne diseases. With the generous support of our friends, and the heroic efforts of our colleague Edwin Mchilikizo, we brought them a source of clean water early in 2019!
In the following photos we can see the progress from the arrival of the contractor to the successful completion of the project.
