WaterAid Upgrades Rural Malawi Clinic
The nonprofit assessed that the clinic currently relies on an inadequate single tap from the community system failing to meet needs.
NTCHISI, Malawi — A health post in rural Malawi will undergo extensive renovations and new infrastructure installation thanks to a four-year commitment from WaterAid funded by the Wimbledon Foundation, officials announced this week, writes Moses Nyirenda.
WaterAid leaders said Wednesday that Chinkhande Health Post in Ntchisi district, which serves remote villages overseen by Traditional Authority Inkosi Vuso Jere, will receive a new water supply system with at least 10,000 litres of storage capacity.
The nonprofit assessed that the clinic currently relies on an inadequate single tap from the community system failing to meet needs.
“Our plan is through the project which is being funded by Wimbledon Foundation and will run for four years, from 2023 to 2027; we are going to provide the whole new water supply system targeting this healthcare facility and it will not be less than 10 thousand litres,” said Laston Zungu, a WaterAid program officer.
The water distribution upgrades aim to ensure reliable and sufficient access for all staff across every department, with officials singling out persistent shortages burdening maternity care.
Alongside new water mains, plumbing and reservoirs, WaterAid will also establish essential waste management infrastructure at Chinkhande Health Post over the next four years.
The planned facilities include the construction of an incinerator, ash pit, placenta pit and refuse pit.
By the conclusion of the support package in 2027, WaterAid hopes such interventions end long-running water, sanitation and hygiene challenges at the remote medical outpost in one of Malawi’s poorest rural districts bordering Zambia.
“As we will be phasing out our project in 2027, WASH problems would be a thing of the past at Chinkhande Health Post,” Zungu pledged Wednesday to both staff and community members during a visit to assess needs.