Water for Malawi
A completed well for Chisomo and Nkagula Villages
The Rotary Club of Downers Grove is privileged to be working with the Rotary Club of Blantyre, Malawi and with Villages In Partnership to bring water to the rural villages of Southern Malawi.
In 2021, as Club Foundation Chair for the Rotary Club of Downers Grove, Harry McCabe initiated a global water grant, GG2122731, in partnership with Villages In Partnership (VIP) and the Blantyre Rotary Club, to drill five borehole wells in the Zomba region of Southern Malawi.
In subsequent years, the Downers Grove Club sponsored drilling of four more wells in the same area, again in partnership with VIP.
In 2025-2026, the DG Foundation Committee is preparing another grant very much like the first one: Same size (5 wells), same partners (Blantyre Rotary and VIP), same area (Zomba), and the same focus on borehole wells as a foundational and community-chosen resource for moving from scarcity to sustainability.
Why Malawi
Malawi is consistently identified as one of the poorest countries in the world. While facing significant economic challenges, it has avoided the severe conflict and violence seen in other low-GDP countries.
Its resilient people suffer from a form of extreme poverty not seen anywhere in the U.S. The statistics are staggering and difficult to fathom. Many families, especially in VIP's rural partner villages, eat only what food they are able to grow. With local government unable to provide any form of safety net, many Malawians live on a knife-edge, with one bad harvest, one illness, or one accident often making the difference between life and death.
Why Villages In Partnership
Villages In Partnership is a strong, well-established, trusted partner in their chosen area of focus: the Zomba region of Malawi.
VIP concentrates on six Critical Resources: Water, Food Security, Education, Healthcare, Infrastructure, and Economic Opportunity. They have six U.S. staff and 22 Malawi staff.
VIP Staff
Harry McCabe, a Rotarian since 1978, is familiar with Rotary's global grant process. Harry became aware of VIP's work through friendships in Christ Church of Oakbrook, and realized that VIP's six mission areas correspond closely to Rotary's Seven Areas of Focus.
Why Water?
The methodology VIP uses for gathering information from community members relies on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), an inclusive and community-driven approach that empowered villagers to lead the process and share their knowledge directly.
From the PRA exercises the consensus emerged that above all, community members emphasized the urgent need for clean, safe, and reliable water close to home. They described how current reliance on distant safe water points, which forces them to alternatively use rivers, streams and unprotected shallow wells, exposes them to contamination, leading to frequent waterborne ailments like cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid, which become more devastating for children. Many highlighted reduced disease incidences as a top priority, noting that safer water close to home would mean fewer sick days, lower medical costs, and healthier families overall who participate fully and meaningfully in development work taking place in their locality.
Scarcity to Sustainability
VIP's mission is to empower communities in Malawi to rise from scarcity to sustainability by equipping them with the critical resources they need.
Scarcity - Attributes of Level-1 Poverty
Sustainability - Attributes of Level-2 Poverty
Expected Impact
Clean, Close, Reliable Water Sources
For our current global grant application, VIP has identified five villages that face a shortfall of Malawi’s standard of one borehole serving 50 households, amounting to a gap of about seven boreholes.
- Manduwasa (460 people)
- Makuluni (635 people)
- Mmwala (1,405 people)
- Maulana (890 people)
- Maliwata (1,135 people)
Altogether, the five new boreholes will benefit a total of about 1,000-1,250 people.
Economic and Social Justice
A nearby well can transform the social structure of a community for the better, especially for women and girls.
Girls no longer have to spend large portions of their day fetching water and can go to school.
Women similarly can spend freed-up time engaging in economic opportunities more suited to their capabilities and goals.
Why a Global Grant
Why don't we just give money directly to VIP instead of going to all the (considerable!) trouble of writing and executing a global grant from the Rotary Foundation?
- The global grant process has the potential to unlock large amounts of matching funds, by seeking District Designated Funds (DDF) to fund the project. All DDF given from Rotary clubs and districts is matched 80% by the World Fund.
- Additionally, Rotary has a highly developed worldwide system for connecting networks of partners in doing good.
- Finally, the global grant process includes built-in safeguards for protecting the integrity of Rotary and our partners.