Global Grants Community Assessment Results (October 2024)
(This page is a representation of the Rotary Community Assessment form completed by Villages In Partnership).
Use this form to report community assessment findings to The Rotary Foundation when you apply for a global grant.
Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, needs, and assets of the community you plan to help is an essential first step in designing an effective and sustainable global grant project. See the Conducting Community Assessments handbook for full instructions and helpful tips.
This form will help you report the results of your community assessment, and it is required when you apply for any humanitarian or vocational training team grant. Complete a separate form for each beneficiary community (e.g., school, health care system, or village), using information that is both current and specific to each community. Remember, you can't use global grant funds to cover the cost of doing an assessment, but you can use district grant funds.
COMMUNITY OVERVIEW
Describe the characteristics (such as geographic information, main sources of income, population size, and access to education and health services) of the specific community where this project will take place.
Senior Chief Ngakula, formerly known as Traditional Authority Nkagula, is a rural administrative unit in Malawi's chieftaincy system, located in Zomba District. It borders Lake Chilwa to the east and is adjacent to other Traditional Authorities, including Mwamibo, Malema, and Kuntumanji. The area features generally flat terrain with fertile soils that are well suited to crop production. As in most parts of Malawi, the primary land use is rain-fed agriculture, which serves as the economic mainstay for the community. Most households rely on farming for their livelihoods, with maize as the main food crop, supplemented by rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, beans, and pigeon peas. In addition, a smaller number of households near Lake Chilwa rely on fishing as a source of household income.
Villages in Partnership (VIP) has identified five villages in Senior Chief Ngakula's area for a clean and safe water intervention: Manduwasa (population 460), Makuluni (635), Mmwala (1,405), Maulana (890), and Maliwata (1,135). Collectively, these villages serve a population of 4,525 (approximately 909 households) and have existing boreholes. According to Malawi's standard of one borehole serving 50 households, the area faces a shortfall of about 7 boreholes to significantly reduce walking distances to water sources and improve access.
The targeted villages lack primary and secondary schools within their boundaries. Learners must walk an average of 4.5 kilometers to the nearest primary school and 5 kilometers to access secondary education. The nearest health centre service all the targeted villages is at least 1 kilometer away, with some villages requiring walks of up to 3 kilometers to reach it. These long distances compound challenges related to education, health, and daily water access in this rural setting.
COLLECTING COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT DATA
When you conduct the assessment, who in the community did you speak to? At least two different community representatives and beneficiaries who are not involved in Rotary (such as teachers, doctors, or community leaders) should be included in the discussions.
During the needs assessments, representatives from Village Health Committees, Village Development Committees, youth, women, men, the elderly and the village headmen (the traditional leader) were targeted and engaged in the discussions.
When in the last year did the discussions occur?
The needs assessments and discussions with targeted community members were done from 6th July to 20th August 2025.
What methods did you use to collect information from community members (such as community meetings, interviews, or focus groups)?
The methodology for gathering information from community members relied on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), an inclusive and community-driven approach that empowered villagers to lead the process and share their knowledge directly. This was conducted as Villages in Partnership was identifying new villages to expand its different interventions to in 2026.
Community members participated in a series of PRA process using tools that were specifically designed to map realities, reveal challenges, and prioritize needs. For instance, transect walks were used to take groups through the village, allowing participants to observe and discuss water sources, terrain, sanitation facilities, erosion-prone spots, available resources, and access barriers firsthand. This walking assessment helped validate other findings and uncover issues not always visible from a single viewpoint.
Resource mapping was another tool which used. Villagers collaboratively used this tool by drawing a map of their community on the ground and transferred the same on paper. They marked all existing water points: rivers, shallow wells, springs, and any boreholes. Thereafter, they counted and located households far from reliable sources. Households requiring long, burdensome walks were automatically identified as high-priority beneficiaries based on criteria the community itself defined.
Problem tree analysis, another PRA tool in use, deepened the community's understanding as participants visually diagrammed the water problem and its root causes such as distant or contaminated sources, the central issues of disease and time loss, and the wide-ranging effects on health, gender roles, education, and livelihoods. This exercise helped everyone see underlying interconnections clearly.
Furthermore, focus group discussions provided in-depth insights from separate or mixed groups of women, men, youth, elders, and vulnerable households which came out through the sharing of experiences openly regarding the community's daily burdens, health impacts, agricultural limitations, and desired improvements they dream of, like that of having access to clean water nearby.
Finally, pairwise ranking was another tool within the complex PRA process which was taken into account. It was used to enable communities to compare and prioritize potential solutions systematically, weighing boreholes with Afridev pumps, which emerged as the clear top choice or their pressing need.
Together, these tools: transect walks, resource mapping, problem tree analysis, focus groups, and pairwise ranking combined local expertise with structured facilitation, ensuring selections were equitable, transparent, and owned by the community.
TARGET POPULATION
Who will benefit directly from the project? List the groups that will benefit (such as schools, hospitals, vocational training centers, cooperatives, or villages).
Primarily, this project will benefit entire households in the selected villages, typically 1,000-1,250 people across the five boreholes.
Women and girls benefit most profoundly in daily life. Traditionally, they are responsible for water collection, they are mainly the ones who endure hours-long walks carrying heavy loads, leading to physical strain, missed school for girls, reduced time for childcare, rest, or income activities. With boreholes closer to homes, they gain significant time savings, improved health, greater opportunities for education and productivity, and restored dignity.
Children, especially young ones (under 5), also benefit directly through reduced exposure to waterborne diseases (cholera, diarrhea, typhoid) caused by using water drawn from unsafe sources. If the exposure is significantly checked, the general public enjoys reduced disease burden due to lowering illness rates; fewer school absenteeisms, and better overall human well-being.
Describe the process of how the beneficiaries were identified.
The process centered on a resource mapping exercise, a standard PRA technique where community members collectively drew a visual map of their village on the ground or paper. Facilitated by Villages in Partnership (VIP) staff and local partners, villagers marked key features and resources, including all existing water points such as rivers, shallow wells, unprotected springs, and any boreholes. They discussed and located these sources accurately based on their local knowledge, highlighting distances, accessibility, and conditions.
During the mapping exercise, participants specifically identified and counted households situated far from reliable or safe water points, typically those requiring long walks to reach safe water sources and sources prone to contamination or seasonal drying. Households deemed far, based on community-defined criteria like excessive time burden, especially for women and girls, were automatically flagged out as high-priority for the water project. This spatial, visual method ensured transparent, inclusive selection, revealing inequities in access and focusing on the most underserved areas.
To deepen community's understanding, the PRA incorporated focus group discussions with diverse groups including women, men, elders, and youth. These sessions explored the broader water problem, checking map findings and gathering qualitative insights on needs and priorities.
COMMUNITY STRENGTHS, NEEDS, PRIORITIES, AND PROJECT DESIGN
Describe what members of the community said matters to them during the assessment.
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.
Describe the community's strengths and resources.
Two notable strengths seen in the targeted communities are strong social capital and traditions of collective action. Rooted in cooperative village practices, community members regularly collaborate on shared needs through mutual support, group labor, and informal networks. This builds trust, reciprocity, and cohesion, vital for forming effective community structures, enforcing rules, and ensuring collective maintenance of communal resources like protected boreholes.
Traditional leadership serves as a vital resource. In this regard, VIP cherishes the role which is played by Senior Chief Nkagula, group village heads (GVH) and local chiefs. They altogether hold significant influence, are respected for mobilizing participation of their subjects in development interventions, help resolve conflicts, allocate responsibilities, and more importantly promoting accountability.
Availability of land for borehole drilling is another huge strength and evidence that the targeted communities are more than willing to support the project. During the PRA meetings, local leaders already showed commitment to providing sites for borehole drilling whenever VIP is ready to partner with the communities on the water project.
Describe any challenges and gaps in the community's behaviors, skills, and knowledge.
Focused group discussions during PRA revealed behavioral gaps which included inconsistent adoption of safe water handling and hygiene practices. Many households continue relying on unsafe surface water sources, rivers and unprotected wells, when they feel tired to walk long distance to access safe water points, even when they are pretty aware of contamination risks.
Another gap that was identified was skills gaps on technical and managerial capacities by Water Point Committees in existing boreholes which led to frequent breakdown of existing boreholes due to lack of adequate training in preventive maintenance, basic repairs for Afridev pumps, transparent fee collection, record-keeping, or conflict resolution. It was further learnt that the targeted communities lack understanding of the significance of using Area Mechanics who are available in nearby villages.
What issues will the project address, and how does the community currently address those issues?
The project will reduce the distance that the targeted households walk to access safe and clean water. Long distance to water sources heavily affects women and children socially and economically. Women who spend more time to draw water have less time to engage in productive activities such as running income generating activities. School going children, particularly girls, suffer as they spend more time drawing water instead of studying and attending school. The project will help reduce the burden of women and girls on their economic and social activities.
While community members have the option of going to distant safe water points, they currently also cope by relying on unprotected or unimproved sources, which are highly prone to contamination from human and animal waste, agricultural runoff, and seasonal flooding. This results in widespread waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid.
Provide the specific details of the project design and how it will solve these issues.
This project will install boreholes equipped with Afridev hand pumps and protected by a catchment protection fence to deliver reliable, clean groundwater in line with Malawi's rural water standards.
Project Background and Problem Statement
In targeted communities, most people are forced to walk long distances to collect water, which often times makes them rely on unsafe surface water from rivers and shallow wells. This leads to a high incidence of waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid, which spread easily through contaminated sources and cause significant illness and death, especially among children. Women and children bear the heavy burden of water collection, often spending more hours daily on the task, resulting in physical strain, reduced school attendance (particularly for girls), lower economic productivity, and limited time for household or income-generating activities. Protected boreholes accessing groundwater offer a sustainable solution by providing cleaner, more reliable water year-round to improve health, save time, support livelihoods, and build resilience against climate challenges.
Project Objectives
Primary Objective: Install five (5) fully functional boreholes with Afridev hand pumps, providing sufficient clean water to serve 200 to 250 households.
Specific Objectives will include:
- Reduce waterborne disease rates by at least 50% in target communities within the first year.
- Decrease water-fetching time by 70%, improving gender equity and education opportunities.
- Support small-scale agriculture and livelihoods through reliable water access.
- Establish community-led systems for long-term operation and maintenance.
Project Design and Methodology
The heart of the project lies in the installation of Afridev hand pumps, a technology that has proven itself across Malawi's rural landscape. These lever-operated, deep-well pumps are specifically chosen because they are simple to use, require only basic tools for repairs, and benefit from a well-established local supply chain for spare parts. The boreholes will be drilled to depths between 45 and 60 meters, depending on the location of the aquifer, with casing diameters compatible with the Afridev standard. Once drilled, a concrete apron with proper drainage will be constructed to prevent ponding, followed by the installation of the Afridev pump itself, capable of lifting clean water from depths of 10 to 45 metres.
A distinctive feature of this design is the construction of a catchment protection fence around the boreholes. The fence will have a lockable gate allowing controlled community access while keeping livestock, stray animals, and other sources of surface contamination away from the immediate vicinity of the borehole. This will also keep children, who like to play on boreholes, away from contaminating the boreholes. This simple but effective measure significantly reduces the risk of faecal contamination and helps maintain the long-term quality of the water.
The project begins with careful preparation. During the first four weeks, hydrogeological surveys will be conducted to identify the most promising sites, while extensive consultations with community members and district stakeholders will be conducted to ensure that the selected locations best serve the people who need them most. This time, pre-drilling survey will be conducted to understand clearly how lack of boreholes in the area impacted on the lives of the targeted beneficiaries. Once sites are agreed upon and necessary permits are obtained, drilling and construction will take place over a period of three months.
After the boreholes are completed, water quality testing will be done thoroughly, and any necessary recommendations on use of the water source will be given based on the findings of the water quality testing.
Upon completion of the boreholes, a formal handover ceremony will be held to celebrate the achievement and mark the beginning of improved health and quality of life for the users. The Rotary Club of Blantyre will be invited to grace the occasion and officially hand over the boreholes to the communities.
In month five (5) of the project, a post-drilling survey will be conducted to assess the boreholes' impact.
Following the handover, VIP officers will provide ongoing support through regular visits to monitor functionality, water usage, and early signs of health improvements. The committees will participate in review meetings to evaluate progress on fee collection and overall borehole management.
In order to ensure sustainability of the boreholes, the committees will be linked to Area Mechanics, a cadre which is responsible for carrying out advanced servicing and maintenance of the boreholes and are championed by the Government.
Through this project, families will no longer spend hours walking to distant or unsafe water sources. Instead, safe, clean water will be available close to home, significantly reducing the risk of waterborne diseases. Women and girls will gain valuable time each daytime that can be redirected toward education, income-generating activities, or family care. Reliable access to water will also enable more consistent small-scale gardening, enhancing household food security and supporting modest improvements in livelihoods.
In essence, this project goes far beyond installing pumps and fences. It is about restoring dignity, saving time, protecting health, and providing communities with the foundation for a better future. As the adage reminds us, water is life-and through the partnership between Rotary International and Villages in Partnership, this vital resource will bring lasting quality of life to the targeted communities.
Describe the long-term plan for the project (such as oversight, financial responsibilities, and expected behavior change) after Rotary’s involvement ends.
After the Rotary Club of Blantyre officially hands over the five boreholes to the communities during a celebratory ceremony, Rotary's direct involvement ends. From that point forward, the boreholes become the responsibility of the local communities themselves, supported by a sustainable, community-led system with ongoing backing from Villages in Partnership (VIP) and Malawi's government structures.
The heart of long-term management lies with the Water Point committees that each community has formed. These committees take charge of everyday oversight, holding regular meetings to monitor borehole functionality, track water usage, and watch for early signs of health improvements, such as fewer cases of waterborne diseases. They also manage a modest fee-collection system, where households contribute small amounts to a maintenance fund. This fund covers routine repairs, spare parts for the Afridev pumps, and the services of trained Area Mechanics when more serious work is needed. The committees are trained during the project to handle these funds transparently, ensuring the boreholes remain financially self-sufficient without relying on external donations,
Since Villages in Partnership works in the same communities on different other interventions, it will continue to play a supportive role through periodic visits, offering guidance, auditing fee collection, and helping resolve any emerging issues. This way, communities will be held accountable while gradually building their independence. At the same time, the committees will be formally linked to the government's Area Mechanics network, giving them reliable access to professional technicians for advanced maintenance and repairs.
Over time, the project is expected to bring lasting changes in behavior and quality of life. With clean groundwater available close to home, families will rely far less on unsafe rivers and shallow wells, leading to a sustained drop in illnesses like cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid. Women and girls will save hours each day that were once spent fetching water, freeing them to attend school, care for their families, or start small income-generating activities. Reliable water will also make it easier for households to grow vegetables and other crops, strengthening food security and resilience against drought. Above all, the communities will grow to see the boreholes as their own assets, protecting them, maintaining them, and taking pride in the dignity and better future that safe water brings.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (FOR ALL ENVIRONMENT AND WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE PROJECTS)
What are currently the greatest environmental threats to local land, air, water resources, and the ecosystem?
The most pressing threat to water quality is anthropogenic contamination, particularly from nearby sanitation facilities like pit latrines. Pit latrines commonly found in rural communities drive microbial (eg., E. coli) and nitrate contamination through seepage, especially during heavy rains. This risks faecal contamination, waterborne diseases (cholera, diarrhea, typhoid), and undermines the project's health goals of reducing disease by 50%.
Climate variability and extremes pose a major risk to groundwater availability and borehole yield. Erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, such as early 2024-2025 reports of drought which affected Zomba and other parts of Malawi, and intensified floods from cyclones or heavy seasonal rains reduce aquifer recharge while increasing overexploitation pressure. Climate change amplifies these challenges, making year-round reliability harder and threatening the project's aim of consistent access for 40-50 households per borehole cluster.
Deforestation and soil erosion indirectly threaten borehole sustainability by degrading recharge zones and increasing sediment runoff. High deforestation rates in the impact area reduce soil infiltration, lower groundwater recharge, and erode topsoil that clogs aquifers or raises turbidity if runoff reaches unprotected areas.
The project's design, with well planned, hydrogeological surveys for optimal siting, concrete aprons with drainage, protective fencing, thorough post-drilling water quality testing, and community-led maintenance tied to government Area Mechanics, directly addresses many of these threats. By prioritizing protected groundwater over vulnerable surface sources, it builds resilience against contamination and climate variability. However, ongoing monitoring (via VIP visits and committee reviews) will be crucial to adapt to emerging issues like intensified dry spells or sanitation pressures, ensuring the boreholes deliver clean, reliable water for the longest period.
List any cultural practices that are relevant to the project (such as agricultural techniques or traditions).
Gender roles in water fetching remain a core tradition. In rural Malawi, including where the project will be implemented, women and girls predominantly handle water collection, often walking long distances to water sources. This task consumes hours daily, limiting time for education, income activities, or rest, reinforcing gender inequities. The project's boreholes, placed closer to homes, align with efforts to reduce this burden, freeing women and girls for schooling or productive work while respecting cultural norms where women lead household water management.
Agricultural techniques and traditions tie directly to the project's livelihood goals. Small-scale gardening and vegetable production using borehole water is expected to produce native crops or vegetables like pumpkin leaves, Amaranthus, turnips, etc.
What positive and negative environmental changes do you expect to result from the project?
On the positive side, the project will significantly reduce pressure on vulnerable surface water sources such as rivers and shallow wells. By providing reliable, closer groundwater access, communities will rely less on these easily contaminated and overexploited points, helping to preserve local aquatic habitats, decrease sediment and pollutant runoff into streams, and ease strain on fragile surface ecosystems.
The protective fencing, concrete aprons with proper drainage, and lockable gates will markedly improve water quality protection at each borehole. These features limit faecal contamination from livestock, playing children, or surface runoff, while also reducing risks from pit latrine seepage and flood-driven pollution.
A particularly promising benefit is the potential for borehole-garden permaculture. Excess water that spills during pumping or forms stagnant pools can instead be channeled to irrigate small community gardens at the soakaway end. This practice turns wastewater into a productive resource, supports year-round vegetable production, improves soil health through low-input permaculture methods, reduces breeding sites for malaria-carrying mosquitoes by eliminating stagnant or still water, and enhances local biodiversity in garden plots without drawing additional groundwater.
Negative environmental changes are expected to be minimal and temporary. During the drilling and construction phase, there may be localized soil disturbance, minor vegetation clearing for site access, or small amounts of waste from drilling fluids and casings. These impacts are limited in scale and can be reversed through prompt site restoration and proper waste management.
There is a slight risk of localized groundwater over-abstraction if community usage consistently exceeds the sustainable yield of the aquifer, potentially lowering water tables over time. However, the hand-pump design naturally restricts withdrawal volumes compared to motorized systems, and the project’s hydrogeological surveys and pre-drilling assessments are designed to select sites with adequate recharge and yield.
In rare cases, if borehole-garden permaculture introduces fertilizers or other inputs, minor nutrient shifts in the immediate soakaway area could occur, though the emphasis on organic, low-input methods keep this risk very low and Villages in Partnership will promote community use of organic manure for small-scale gardening around the boreholes, hence playing a critical part in mitigating the devastating effects of climate change at large.