Tabita Chirwa (40) lives in the remote community of Lundewa in Malawi. Tucked into a dry, hilly area with sparse trees and rough terrain, Lundewa doesn’t have the density of households or the roadways to enable drilling one of our usual deep-water wells. Nevertheless, women in this area struggle with the constant stress of finding clean water for their families.
Tabita has 5 children ranging in age from 6 to 23 years. Her nearest water source is a shallow natural well about 30 minutes walk through uneven, rocky ground with shifting elevation. But when we visited her, this shallow well could not produce enough water, so Tabita had to walk an extra 30 minutes to an area where she could dig with her hands into the sand until small amounts of water appeared beneath the surface. Then she could gradually scoop water into her bucket. This process could take an hour or more. After that, Tabita walks with a heavy bucket on her head, 60 minutes back, uphill and on treacherous ground.
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