The price of water and sanitation

The McGills in 2008

Perhaps my most eagerly anticipated trip was to see the shallow wells in Mzuzu, Malawi.  I made the long journey north chatting with a lovely missionary from Northern Ireland.  I spent my brief time in Mzuzu with Jim and Jodi McGill.  They are such hospitable and wonderful people.  They have adopted six children and have an Intern staying with them for the Summer, but they still welcomed me with open arms.

Jim works for the Presbyterian Synod (Livingstonia) and is responsible for water and sanitation for all of Northern Malawi.  He partners with organizations like Marion Medical Mission (http://marionmedical.org/) and Water For People -- Malawi http://www.waterforpeople.org/programs/africa/malawi.html) to install wells and eco-latrines. 

An inefficient Play Pump

The preferred shallow well

There is much to learn on the difficulties of effective development work.  For instance, a past organization called Play Pumps installed these play areas where children could play and pump water at the same time.  However, it was found that the pumps were inefficient and that they were overused by the residents.  The preferred well is something called a shallow well that is under 20 feet in depth.  Marion Medical is remarkably efficient at raising money for shallow wells.  For $350, a donor can build a well and get a picture of it.  However, the business of non-profits demands progress and so the target number of wells has been raised from 1,000 a year to 1,200 a year.  Great!  But oh wait, that target outpaces the ability of Jim and his team to effectively determine where the wells need to be.  It is harder to raise money when you don't have pictures.

The self drilled well

The hole they often drink out of

And then there's getting people to use them.  Marion considers that anyone within 500 meters of the well has access.  We drove to a site where there is a well that is within 500 meters of a group of houses.  But they don't use it!  They've dug their own well that is unsealed and often dries up.  When it is dry, they get their water from this hole.  We asked one of the guys why don't they use it.  The first reason that it was too far away and the second was that they didn't contribute to building it.  Marion asks for around 1500 Kwacha a year to maintain the well which is not that much -- even here.  It is equivalent to around 20 minutes of talk time on a phone or 8 beers at the bar.  Ah priorities!

Jim's team is working a new model where the residents would take ownership of the well.  Jim asked this guy if this group of 4 or 5 houses would be willing to take out a 50,000 Kwacha loan over two years through a micro finance organization like Opportunity International.  The guy sounded very open to it...open to the idea of ownership.

Finally, I wanted to mention another cool thing that Jim's team is doing.  They are working with Water For People to install eco-latrines.  These are latrines where people cover their manure with ash and soil.  in 6-12 months, the manure bio degrades into compost that be used for crops or sold for money.