A huge upgrade to our water system at Matandani!
When I first got to Matandani in 2013, the only water source the school had access to was the nearby borehole. Children had to manually pump the water into buckets to have water at the toilets or for washing their hands or even drinking. By 2014 we were able to connect to the local water board and we had our first tap at Matandani. It was such a great day! However, it quickly became apparent that sharing one tap between 1000+ children isn’t quite enough. So, in 2015, we connected a tap for each of the two toilet blocks. This was a great success and made it easier for children to wash their hands (and feet it seemed). The following year, we decided to go even bigger by putting in a tap into each and every classroom! This moment was huge! Not only was this very unique for any government primary school in Malawi, but it made a huge difference to our attendance stats. There was far less children absent from sickness and better attendance in all the classes! As the school grew, we kept adding taps to each and every new classroom and toilet block!
Over the years since then, water has been a great resource at Matandani. However, over the most recent years, it started to become hit and miss. Sometimes a week would go by without any water, sometimes a few days. Sadly, this has gotten worse over the last year. This summer (2023) I arrived at Matandani to hear that they have had little to no water for the last two months! A decision was made to take control of the water for the school. We researched the solution of having a Solar Powered Water Pump installed at the school’s original borehole. We had the borehole tested to see if it is a good source of water, and thankfully the results were excellent! The borehole was perfect for an electronic pump! It was going to cost a lot of money, but it was really the only solution for Matandani going forward.
This summer we got it all together and had it installed. As the pump was being installed in the borehole, the manual pump that was there for the last 15 years was dismantled as there was no room for both. The community were going to benefit however, as we installed two taps directly connected to the new pump. It has great pressure and will fill the community pales/buckets in no time at all! The community are really happy with the upgrade!
Another big plus to the installation was the opportunity to connect the two teachers houses that never had direct access to water. They had to walk the 75m+ to the borehole. Not any more however, as both houses have a tap installed each at their house.
With the plentiful access to water from now on at the toilets and every classroom, everyone is delighted! We can also take the opportunity to disconnect from the local water board which will save the school money in bills going forward! A win-win situation!
