{"id":2022,"date":"2025-05-05T10:22:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T08:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctechmw.net\/nrwb\/?p=2022"},"modified":"2025-05-28T15:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T13:37:11","slug":"arab-gulf-programme-for-development-agfund-prince-talal-international-prize-for-human-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/?p=2022","title":{"rendered":"Maula smiles at last As African Development Bank funded project brings life to communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\"\"
Demba (in red) among fellow women at their kiosk \u2013 women were the most affected with water challenges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For years Estelle Demba Phiri has had the same agonizing routine – waking up at dawn to walk a 2 kilometre distance in search of safe water for her household use.\u00a0 Mostly, she needed to make at least three trips to meet her households needs for the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end, I was always tired to do anything more productive for myself. I had to solely rely on my husband for support,\u201d she laments.<\/p>\n

According to Phiri,\u00a0 this exercise drained the energy and time for her to venture into any meaningful small scale business and farming to support her family.<\/p>\n

And that was not all.<\/p>\n

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fukamalaza stresses a point during his communities water group consultations<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis daily disappearance at dawn always led to quarrels with my husband who thought I was using the search for water as an excuse. He thought I had an affair and it always affected our marriage,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

As she grew older, with age slowly catching up, she could not cope with the daily routine and started bringing on her children to the chore.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times, we could find long queues at the borehole if we did not wake up very early, and my children would be late for school and sometimes would go tired. At the end of the day, their performance in school was being negatively affected,\u201d Phiri recounts.<\/p>\n

Phiri was not alone. Most women of Maula in Traditional Authority Fukamalaza\u2019s\u00a0 area in Nkhata Bay, Malawi have lived in quiet resignation for years.\u00a0 Just like Phiri, their lives revolved around a daily trek to the distant borehole, often murky and unreliable, for water. Every drop was a hard-fought battle\u2014children, their eyes weary, carried heavy buckets instead of books, while mothers prayed for relief. The dream of clean, safe water seemed distant, buried beneath the demands of everyday survival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could feel for my people. It was tough. The irony though was that most of my fellow leaders in the district had benefited under the Nkhata Bay (Town water supply and sanitation) project. I was one of the few left out. Actually, during area development meetings, fellow chiefs would laugh at us that we were still living in ancient times without a water stand pipe in our homes. And with cholera heavily affecting our district, this was a wake up call.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we took an initiative to contact the Board on the challenge. Luckily, the Board was already a step ahead – moving with another project to connect us with water supply,\u201d recalls Fukamalaza though he confirms, he accepted the narrative with skepticism<\/p>\n

But soon hope arrived to the chief\u2019s area with the Board bringing the Maula water supply extension project. The success of the Nkhata Bay Water Supply and Sanitation Project financed by the African Development Bank, OPEC Fund and Malawi Government had brought with it savings, and those savings, along with additional funding from the Malawi Government, were redirected toward this project.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the Nkhata Bay project, we had a saving of $1.4 million. We discussed with the Bank to utilize these resources to reach more people\u00a0 with potable water supply by extending the system to Maula in Chief Fukamalaza\u2019s area. With the designs we had, we needed additional financing and Government allocated around K2 billion to ensure that we make water more accessible to many communities,\u201d explains Catherine Mbewe-Mwafulirwa,the Board\u2019s Director of Infrastructure Development.<\/p>\n

Shortly after, the area started receiving teams from the Board to engage the leaders and local communities on the upcoming project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis started giving me and my subjects hope. We were engaged on the scope of the project, issues of land acquisition and our role including compensations. With this, our skepticism vanished,\u201d explains Fukamalaza.<\/p>\n

As the contractor arrived, community members watched with growing anticipation. Local communities were recruited for manual labor which included excavations among others. Pipes were laid, a booster station and a water storage tank built with communal water taps sprouting in places where only dust had been before. A sense of possibility began to flow alongside the construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe installed a total of 170 kilometers of distribution pipelines, a booster station, a 300 000 litre tank and 10 communal water taps spread across the area,\u201d adds Mwafulirwa.<\/p>\n

\"\"
African Development Bank and NRWB Team during a recent mission visit by the Bank to the Maula extension project<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soon, the day came when clean, safe water surged through the taps at Maula for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first day clean water flowed was one of celebration. Children were so happy as if discovering joy itself, while women, for the first time, filled their buckets<\/p>\n

without the burden of exhaustion. The smiles on my people\u2019s\u00a0 faces told the story\u2014a long-held dream had finally come true,\u201d says Fukamalaza with a smile.<\/p>\n

During a recent mission visit by the African Development Bank to Maula, cheers erupted, children danced, and the tired faces of the mothers lit up with joy confirming the chiefs assertions.<\/p>\n

For the people of Maula and surrounding areas, finally the hope had come like a whispered promise, carried by the wind, that the area had not been forgotten.<\/p>\n

Their smiles told a story of transformation, not just of water but of hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis water has brought with it health, opportunity, and the freedom to dream of a brighter future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grown now. I can\u2019t manage the long distances. With the water on the doorstep, I can age gracefully,\u201d says Phiri with a glow of gratitude.<\/p>\n

During an interface at the Chiefs headquarters, it\u00a0 was clear, that the water is not only a women\u2019s issue as it also affects men greatly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can now live in peace and focus on developing our families and our areas. This is why men are also actively involved in managing these taps to ensure that we do not run out of units and water keeps flowing. We want this peace that this water has brought to continue. I believe this water will help bring families together, improve our productivity and children school performance,\u201d said Fukamalaza at his headquarters.<\/p>\n

Chief Executive Officer for Northern Region Water Board Francis Munthali\u00a0 explained that the Board\u2019s vision is to ensure that all people within its supply area have access to potable water and sanitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are moving with Government\u2019s vision to ensure that we meet sustainable development goal number 6 which calls for potable water and sanitation for all by year 2030. This is why, in our projects, we are going the last mile\u00a0 to ensure that water is accessible even in remote areas such as Maula where women and children are the most affected when it comes to fetching water. We are bringing safe drinking water to the door step,\u201d Munthali said.<\/p>\n

For Phiri and other women at Maula, the coming of safe drinking water is key to securing the future of younger ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are living the younger generation in safe hands because water is life. We have laid a good foundation to spur development in our area,\u201d reminisces Phiri.<\/p>\n

Children at Maula are also happy that when\u00a0 they wake up, the first faces to see will be those of their mothers unlike previously when they found mothers always out in search for water.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] For years Estelle Demba Phiri has had the same agonizing routine – waking up at dawn to walk a 2 kilometre distance in search of safe water for her household use.\u00a0 Mostly, she needed to make at least three trips to meet her households needs for the day. \u201cAt the end, I was always<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nrwb-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2022"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2601,"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022\/revisions\/2601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nrwb.org.mw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}