Introducing Water of Mercy: Bringing Clean Water to Malawian Villages, One Well at a Time
Today, we're proud to launch Water of Mercy, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization whose faith-based mission is to provide rural Malawians with access to safe, clean drinking water through the installation of sustainable borehole water wells.
Water of Mercy's primary focus is on small to medium size rural communities whose populations have limited access to clean drinking water. In most cases the residents of these communities must walk kilometers to water sources that are often contaminated and/or seasonal.
The Crisis We're Addressing
Every day, families like this one shown here walk kilometers just to collect murky, contaminated water from shallow, hand-dug wells that are often shared with livestock. They kneel in the dirt to scoop cloudy, debris-filled water into whatever containers they can find, knowing this same water poses serious health risks to their children and elderly family members.
This is the daily reality for hundreds of thousands across Malawi, where water scarcity has reached critical levels in community after community.
Our sustainable borehole wells transform this reality by providing clean, safe, and locally sourced water that significantly reduces water contamination and disease. Each village forms a maintenance committee to care for their well, ensuring it serves the community for approximately 75 years.
Our Mission: Direct Impact with Transparency
Water of Mercy operates on a straightforward principle: every donation goes directly toward well projects that provide clean, safe drinking water to entire communities. But what sets us apart from other water charities is how we connect you personally with the communities you're helping and our efficient use of donations.
Choose Your Village: Unlike other water charities that simply ask for donations, we provide you with detailed profiles of specific villages in need—complete with images, population details, current water conditions, and the people who will benefit from your donation. You choose which village resonates most with you, creating a personal connection to your impact.
Watch Your Well Come to Life: While other charities might send you GPS coordinates on a map months later, we document every step of your well's construction through images and videos on each village's dedicated page. You'll see the well construction and the completed pump installation which will serve the community for decades.
Maximum Impact for Your Dollar: At typically just $5,500 per complete well, your donation goes twice as far as many other water charities that require $8,000-$10,000+ for similar projects. This efficiency means more wells, more communities served, and more lives transformed with every dollar you contribute.
100% Volunteer-Driven: All Water of Mercy team members, including co-founders and board members, serve as unpaid volunteers. We have no paid employees, and our minimal operational expenses for nonprofit compliance and stewardship are already included in the well cost—ensuring maximum transparency and impact for every donation.
Why We Focus on Malawi
Malawi is a small, landlocked country of 21 million people located in southeastern Africa south of Tanzania. While the people and the spirit of Malawi are strong, Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries with most of the population engaged in subsistence farming or small-scale trade. Malawi's climate is subtropical and harsh, often suffering from both droughts and flooding and other natural disasters.
Malawi is currently experiencing one of its worst economic crises in decades. The country's per capita income is only $567.00 (USD), and in 2024, real GDP growth slowed to just 1.8% due to severe drought and acute foreign exchange shortages. The poverty rate has risen to 71.2%, while ongoing commodity price inflation continues to worsen conditions—some residents even describe the situation as an "economic collapse."
Despite the abundant freshwater source of Lake Nyasa on the far eastern border, the central and western areas of the country still struggle with accessing clean water. For communities already facing extreme poverty, the burden of walking kilometers for contaminated water from shared sources represents both a health crisis and an economic barrier that perpetuates the cycle of hardship. Our targeted approach focuses on rural villages in these regions where sustainable water access can provide the foundation for improved health and economic opportunity.
Proof of Impact: Yotamu Village Success Story
We began this mission by privately funding our first well in Yotamu Village, home to 400 residents. The transformation was immediate and profound.
Before the well: Villagers were forced to walk one or more kilometers each way to the nearest water source. The water sources were typically shallow, contaminated and muddy holes in the ground. Each year some villagers would suffer from disease related to water contamination. This resulted in sickness and often contributed to early death.
The remarkable change: This well project was fully funded on January 5th, 2025, and the well was drilled and installed in just 14 days. Today, the entire Yotamu Village community has reliable access to clean, safe water year-round.
The village formed a committee for maintenance and management of the well, ensuring its sustainability. With continued care, this well will serve the community for approximately 75 years, completely eliminating the previous dangers of water contamination and disease.
Villages in Urgent Need Right Now
Chizani Village: A Community in Crisis
Location: Chizani Village, Malawi Africa
Population: 500+
Funding Goal: $5,500
Water scarcity in Chizani Village has reached a critical level. Residents are currently relying on shallow, hand-dug wells that produce murky, contaminated water unsafe for drinking. These makeshift water sources are little more than muddy pools where families must kneel in the dirt to collect cloudy, debris-filled water in whatever containers they can find.
The water is visibly contaminated and poses serious health risks to the community, especially vulnerable children and elderly residents. A properly constructed borehole in Chizani Village will serve more than 500 people in this scattered remote community, including students and staff at the nearby primary school. This well will not only provide clean water for families but will also ensure that children have access to safe drinking water during their school day.
Kabiza Village: Walking Kilometers for Contaminated Water
Location: Kabiza Village, Malawi Africa
Population: 700+
Funding Goal: $5,500
Residents in Kabiza Village face significant water scarcity and must walk over 1 kilometer to fetch water from shallow, hand-dug wells that are shared by both people and livestock. These open water sources are heavily contaminated with mud, debris, and animal waste, creating murky, unsafe water that poses serious health risks to the entire community.
Families have no choice but to collect this contaminated water in buckets and containers for drinking, cooking, and daily use. A freshwater well in Kabiza Village will serve more than 700 people and eliminate the daily burden of walking long distances for contaminated water.
How Our Process Works
1. Village Selection: Our local representative in Malawi, Father Petros, identifies villages with the greatest need based on factors such as distance to existing water sources, water contamination issues, and population size. We typically target villages of 500 or more people, and publish two to four of these villages in need on our website.
2. Funding Process: Individual donations for each village are pooled together by Water of Mercy. When the total funding goal for a village is reached, we release the funds to begin the well drilling project for that village. Donors can then follow construction and completion of the well drilling and pump installation on our news page.
3. Well Construction: The well drilling company will drill at least three test holes at a depth of 60 meters to determine the optimal spot for the well near or within the village. The entire boring and construction process is typically be completed in about 4 weeks, but may take 2-3 months during adverse weather conditions or due to well drilling company scheduling, material, or fuel constraints.
4. Community Ownership: When we complete a well project, the residents typically form a committee to manage well maintenance. This community-based approach ensures local ownership and ongoing care of the well.
Know Your Impact: Village Profiles and Live Updates
When you visit waterofmercy.com, you'll learn everything about the villages you're helping:
- Detailed village information including images, location, population, current water situation, and projected impact
- Real-time funding progress showing exact amounts raised for each village
- Live percentage tracking that updates with each donation
- Construction documentation - once a village well project is fully funded, donors can follow the progress of well construction through images and videos on that village's dedicated news page
- Project completion updates showing the tangible results of contributions
This approach creates a connection between donors and communities, demonstrates the tangible results of contributions, and builds trust through transparent documentation of exactly how and where each dollar is invested.
How You Can Make an Immediate Difference
Every contribution brings clean water closer to reality. Our current villages Chizani and Kabiza desperately need your support to begin their journey toward clean water access.
Any amount is accepted and you can donate to one or more well projects and pay in a single transaction.
Donation Process: Simply select a village to help fund, add your donation to that village, and check out. You can even fund more than one village as each donation is added to your cart. During checkout you can pay the total amount for all donations in a single transaction. Our donation platform is built on the trusted Shopify e-commerce engine.
Tax Benefits: Water of Mercy Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Please consult your tax advisor for guidance applicable to your specific situation. Our tax identification number is 39-2413812.
Organizational Sponsorships: Churches, universities, companies, and other organizations can sponsor village well projects with an initial $1,000 donation and receive branded recognition on the village page, including logo display and a unique promotional URL to engage their community in collaborative fundraising. See our FAQ for complete sponsorship details and benefits.
Your Impact: Immediate and Lasting
Immediate benefits when a well is completed:
- Clean, safe drinking water for entire communities
- Elimination of dangerous daily water collection journeys
- Reduced waterborne diseases and improved health outcomes
- Children able to attend school instead of collecting water
- Economic opportunities as families have more time for productive activities
Long-term transformation:
- ~75+ years of reliable clean water access
- Community ownership through local maintenance committees
- Sustainable water source requiring no external power or complex technology
- Foundation for improved health, education, and economic development
About Water of Mercy
Water of Mercy Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. We maintain strict financial oversight and operate with transparency. You can learn more about our organization in our About Us page and FAQ.
All Water of Mercy team members, including the co-founders and board members, serve as unpaid volunteers to ensure that every donation directly supports well construction and essential operational expenses. We also have no paid employees. As a federally tax exempt nonprofit corporation, any funds not used for direct well construction or essential operational expenses are applied toward funding additional well drilling projects at the end of each fiscal year.
Our History
Water of Mercy grew out of our simple friendship with Father Petros, a young and humble Catholic priest in Malawi, Africa. At the time of our founding, Father Petros was responsible for 50 "prayer centers" (churches without a full-time priest) and 40,000 tremendously faithful yet impoverished rural Malawian parishioners. When we asked how we could help most, his answer was clear and direct: fresh water. Thousands of his parishioners had no access to clean water and were forced to walk kilometers to water sources that were often contaminated and seasonal.
Water of Mercy emerged through our partnership with Father Petros, working alongside a local Malawian well boring company with some assistance from the government. We discovered that for roughly $5,000, we could fund, drill, and construct a freshwater well with high probability of success.
As an initial experiment, we funded a single well in Yotamu Village, Malawi. The results exceeded our expectations. The well was bored, constructed, and operational in just two weeks. The residents immediately formed a committee to manage well maintenance, and the well is estimated to last 75 years, providing decades of clean water to the community.
The system we co-developed with Father Petros has proven to be both repeatable and scalable. Father Petros serves as our direct representative in Malawi and is equally committed to ensuring successful outcomes for each well project, identifying villages with the greatest need, and using donations efficiently and responsibly. This partnership allows Water of Mercy to operate with minimal overhead while maximizing the impact of every donation we receive.
Join Our Mission Today
Visit waterofmercy.com to see detailed profiles of Chizani and Kabiza villages, make your donation with complete transparency, and be among the first supporters to bring these communities a fresh water well that will operate for approximately 75 years. Together, we can bring clean water to communities that desperately need it.
Every donation matters. Every well transforms lives. Every village reached brings us closer to a world where clean water flows for all.
The need is urgent in Chizani and Kabiza villages. The solution is proven through our Yotamu Village success. The impact will last for generations.