Kapeni Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Project

About this Project

Led by Edwin Chiona, a YALI- RLC alumnus, Chinansungwi Relief Hand Organization (CHIREHO) will facilitate the rehabilitation of a borehole that has been non-functional for six months in Cedrick Village, Traditional Authority Kapeni, Blantyre. The rehabilitated borehole will help in reducing overcrowding at the only functional borehole in the community which serves about 3,000 people. Additionally, community members will experience reduced distance to the nearest borehole from 3-4 km to less than 1 km. Lastly, the project is expected to reduce water borne disease caused by uptake of unprotected water sources in the area

The maintenance of a non-functional borehole at Kapeni in Blantyre has been completed in a record project completion time of under 25 days. Using $1,000.00 grants funds, Chinansungwi Relief Hand Organization bought spare parts and facilitated the training of three water committee members and three sanitation committee members. The rehabilitation of the borehole has restored water supply to 1000 residents from the area.

With a $1,000 grant from the accelerator competition, Edwin Chiona, a Yali-RLC alumni, revitalized sanitation in Cedrick village, Kapeni community. In partnership with the Chinasungwi Relief Hand Organization (CHIREHO) and the village development committee, they mobilized community resources to rehabilitate a broken borehole that had been nonfunctional since 2021. They also trained three community members in borehole maintenance. The restored borehole now provides clean, safe water to 1,000 residents, reducing women’s fetching time from 30-50 minutes to 5-10 minutes and decreasing waterborne diseases by at least 60%. It has also improved girls’ school attendance, as they no longer spend hours fetching water. To sustain the project, a Borehole Maintenance Committee was established, trained, and a monthly subscription fee per household was introduced for maintenance costs. Mr. Jimmy Chiwaya expressed his gratitude, highlighting how the borehole has improved health, saved time, and enabled women and children to focus on other productive activities.