Mpherembe Village: From a Muddy Water Hole to Clean Water for 800 People
Mpherembe Village Well Project - Impact Dashboard
Mpherembe Village has struck water. On October 24, 2026, the drilling team reached water beneath Mpherembe Village, and Father Petros reports plenty of it. Thanks to 7 generous donors, the 800 residents of Mpherembe now have a well of their own, ending their reliance on a muddy hollow in a dambo where water had to be lifted out one small basin at a time.
This project was made possible by 7 generous donors whose compassion and faith in this mission brought Mpherembe Village to full funding on October 14, 2026, just eleven days after it went up on our website. Every gift, whether a first-time donation or the latest from a longtime friend of Water of Mercy, played a real and irreplaceable role in making this well possible.
We want to especially recognize Kenneth J., whose extraordinary gift of $3,725 carried more than two thirds of this well's $5,500 cost. That remarkable act of compassion, a first gift to Water of Mercy, made clean water possible for 800 people. We are profoundly grateful for their belief in this work.
We are deeply grateful as well to Richard & Camille K., whose gift of $1,000 carried nearly a fifth of the well. Thank you for opening your hearts to a village far away.
We extend deep gratitude to our faithful friend Jörg P., whose unwavering support of Water of Mercy continues to inspire us. With an astounding 54 donations to date across 24 different village well projects, Jörg P. exemplifies the kind of sustained commitment that makes lasting change possible. His generosity has reached Msese, Khorwa, Kajombo, Mchilawengo, Luwerezi, Msambanyifwa, Zebediya, Zakariya, Bundi, Chibekete, Kapili, Yesaya, Kaputeni Chisi, Chimbiranjala, Theu, Mataliyana, Chirwa, Mkandawire, Chakwanika, Mazanga, Chindenga, Kaluluma, Jenda, and here at Mpherembe.
We are especially grateful to David K., one of the greatest friends this mission has, constantly sharing our news and our posts, whose gifts have now reached seven Water of Mercy wells, at Kabiza, Kajombo, Mchilawengo, Bundi, Chimbiranjala, Chindenga, and here at Mpherembe.
We are glad to welcome back Kevin B., who returns after giving to Khorwa, Zakariya, and Bundi, and Mary C., who gave to Chibekete and has now given again here at Mpherembe.
Together, all 7 of our donors, whatever the size of the gift, exemplify how generosity can transform entire communities, one well at a time.
From Crisis to Clean Water
Until now, the 800 residents of Mpherembe Village have had no access to safe drinking water and no alternative source. Everything they drank came from a dambo, a shallow marshy depression, where the water seeps out at the foot of a low grassy bank into a churned, muddy hollow.
There is no pool deep enough to dip a bucket into, so women and children crouch on the wet ground, fill a small basin and tip it into whatever containers they have carried down, over and over, while a line of buckets and plastic basins waits its turn on the dry ground in front of them. The dambo is shared with livestock and wild animals, and this area is at high risk for cholera and other waterborne diseases.
Mpherembe sits close to the trading center, so this one hollow has supplied a village with people moving through it every day.
Before: filling basins at the muddy hollow in the dambo while the buckets wait their turn.
Water Struck at Mpherembe
The drilling rig arrived at Mpherembe and the team drilled the new borehole on October 24, 2026. When the borehole was cleaned out, water surged up out of the casing and then shot high into the air beside the rig's mast, running across the ground in every direction.
Father Petros reports that the new borehole has plenty of water. After crouching over a hollow too shallow to dip a bucket into, the people of Mpherembe now have water rising from deep beneath their own ground.
Water surges from the new borehole as it is cleaned out at Mpherembe Village.
The Pump Is In
With the borehole drilled, the hand pump has been installed and a concrete pad built around it to keep the wellhead clean and carry spilled water away. The concrete needs time to cure before the well is put to daily use. Father Petros will then bless the new well and formally hand it over to the community.
The Difference This Well Makes
A properly constructed borehole in Mpherembe Village will serve 800 people. It provides clean, safe drinking water directly in the village, ending the wait at a muddy hollow in a dambo and the slow work of filling a basin at a time from ground that has to be crouched over. It will dramatically reduce the risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases that threaten this community, and a village on the edge of the trading center, with people passing through it every day, no longer depends on an open source that livestock and wild animals reach as freely as its residents do.
With proper management by a village maintenance committee, this vital resource should serve the community for approximately 75 years.
The Power of Generosity
The Mpherembe Village Well Project is a testament to what a few generous hearts can accomplish. One extraordinary first gift, joined by new friends and by longtime supporters who have given village after village, funded this well in eleven days and changed the future of 800 people who have never had a safe source of water of their own.
Please keep Father Petros in your prayers as he continues his dedicated work serving the people of Malawi. 🙏
A gallery of photos and video from the drilling at Mpherembe Village is included below.