Water of Mercy
Zuza Village Well Project
Zuza Village Well Project
The well is given in loving memory of Bernice Jensen, and of Joseph and Mary Postulka. The entire cost of the well was covered by a single gift from one family of Mary Mother of Divine Grace Parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Location: Zuza Village, Malawi Africa
Population: 350
Current Water Situation: The Zuza Village Well Project is complete. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of a single donor couple, E.K. and P.K. of Mary Mother of Divine Grace Parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Zuza Village was fully funded on September 8, 2026, covering 100% of the $5,500 goal in a single gift. The well was successfully drilled on September 10, 2026, striking water in abundance. The crew worked through the night under the floodlights of the rig to reach it, and when the borehole was cleaned out the water came up and out of the hole in a rush, and the villagers who had gathered to watch broke into a celebration of song and dance. Father Petros reported that the drilling was done perfectly. Drilling and construction took three days in all. The pump blessing took place on September 21, 2026, with Father Petros and his colleague Father Thomas blessing the well with holy water and incense, and a Water of Mercy label bearing the words of the Divine Mercy devotion, "Jesus, I trust in You," was fixed to the well. This is the first time Zuza has ever had access to fresh, clean water. More than 350 residents now have access to clean, safe drinking water. A local water committee will be established for maintenance and management of the well. With proper care, the well should serve the community for approximately 75 years.
Project Impact: Before this well was installed, the 350 residents of Zuza Village had no access to safe drinking water. Their only source was a dambo, a shallow marshy depression that shrank by the dry season to a handful of pools a few inches deep and opaque with brown sediment. To reach it they walked out of the village along a footpath through the fields and woodland, then crouched at a pool's edge and scooped with a small plastic basin, tipping scoop after scoop into a bucket until there was enough to carry home. The pools were shared with livestock and wild animals, and this area was prone to cholera and other waterborne diseases, presenting severe health risks to the entire community. Zuza is a very poor and remote village with no primary school, no clinic and no church of its own, and it had no alternative source of water when the pools ran low. Today, more than 350 people have access to clean, safe drinking water directly in their village. Families no longer walk out to a marshy dambo, and no longer scoop sediment-filled water a basin at a time from pools that livestock and wild animals use. The risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases that threatened this community has been dramatically reduced, and the children born in Zuza will grow up having never known anything else. With proper maintenance and management by the community water committee, this vital resource should serve Zuza Village for approximately 75 years.
Funding Goal:
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