The Walk Ends at Mazanga: Clean Water for 378
Mazanga Village Well Project - Impact Dashboard
Mazanga Village has struck clean water for the first time in its history. Thanks to the generosity of 6 donors, the 378 residents of Mazanga Village now have safe, clean drinking water, ending their reliance on a marshy dambo where they crouched at the water's edge to scoop brown, sediment-filled water shared with livestock, then carried it home. The borehole was drilled on September 6, 2026, and the drilling team worked well into the night to finish it.
This well exists because 6 generous donors brought Mazanga Village to full funding on August 24, 2026, just six days after the village was posted. Every gift, whether a first-time donation or the latest from a longtime friend of Water of Mercy, played a real and irreplaceable role.
We especially recognize J.A., a parishioner of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago, whose extraordinary generosity funded 85% of this entire well in a single gift. That gift carried Mazanga Village to full funding and made clean water possible for 378 people. It was their very first gift to Water of Mercy, and it will be remembered in Mazanga for generations.
We extend deep gratitude to our faithful friend Jörg P., whose unwavering support of Water of Mercy continues to inspire us. With 50 donations to date across 21 different village well projects, Jörg P. exemplifies the kind of sustained commitment that makes lasting change possible. His generosity has helped bring clean water to Msese, Khorwa, Kajombo, Mchilawengo, Luwerezi, Msambanyifwa, Zebediya, Zakariya, Bundi, Chibekete, Kapili, Yesaya, Kaputeni Chisi, Chimbiranjala, Theu, Mataliyana, Chirwa, Mkandawire, Chakwanika, Mazanga, and Chindenga.
We are grateful as well to our returning friend Zachary H., whose steady giving has now helped fund three village wells, at Chimbiranjala, Chirwa, and Mazanga. Their continued faithfulness, village after village, means so much.
We also warmly welcome the first-time donors whose gifts carried Mazanga Village to the finish line, including friends of the mission giving from as far away as Spain. To every one of you giving to Water of Mercy for the first time, thank you for believing in this mission and in the people of Mazanga.
We are deeply grateful to the parish community of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago. We met them during the 2026 Mission Appeal, and they have been giving directly ever since, in gifts made straight to the villages rather than through the appeal. Their generosity has now reached the wells at Chirwa, Chakwanika, Mkandawire, and here at Mazanga. That parish opened its heart to villages in northern Malawi, and Mazanga will carry that kindness for generations.
Together, all 6 of our donors, whatever the size of the gift, show how generosity can transform an entire community, one well at a time.
From Crisis to Clean Water
Every drop of water used in Mazanga Village came from a dambo, a shallow, marshy wetland where murky water collects among mud and grass. The village's 378 residents had no other source and no access to safe drinking water.
They had to crouch at the water's edge to scoop the brown, sediment-filled water into buckets and basins, then carry the heavy containers home on a long journey back to the village. That burden fell most heavily on the women, who made the trip day after day.
The dambo was shared with livestock, and this area was prone to cholera and other waterborne diseases, presenting severe health risks to the entire community.
Before: women crouch at the edge of the dambo to fill their basins from the village's only water source.
Clean Water at Last
On September 6, 2026, the drilling rig reached Mazanga Village. The team set up beside the footpath the women had walked for generations, drilled through the day, and kept working long after dark, floodlights on the rig, to finish the borehole. Father Petros reports a great deal of water.
The concrete pad was poured and the pump installed immediately afterward, and the whole project was completed in just three days. After generations of scooping brown water from a marshy dambo, the people of Mazanga are now drawing clean water from a well of their own.
The rig at work in Mazanga.
Drilling continues into the night.
A Blessing to Come
The pump is complete and the community has already begun drawing fresh, clean water from their new well. Father Petros has instructed the villagers to start using the borehole immediately while they await his arrival for the official blessing ceremony. We will add photos and video of that blessing to this page as soon as they arrive.
The Power of Generosity
The Mazanga Village Well Project is a testament to what happens when people answer the call to serve those in need. Six donors, one of them a complete stranger to this mission until the evening they gave, saw a community crouching in the mud of a marshy dambo to scoop brown water shared with livestock, then carrying it home on a long walk, and they responded with extraordinary compassion. Because of them, 378 people have clean water, and so will the generations yet to be born in Mazanga Village. Never again will the women of Mazanga kneel at the edge of that dambo to fill a basin for their families.
Please keep Father Petros in your prayers as he continues his dedicated work serving the people of Malawi. 🙏
A gallery of images from the drilling at Mazanga Village is included below. Photos and video of the pump blessing will be added to this page as they arrive.