Three Years Later, Gladys Has Safe, Clean Water
We first met Gladys in 2023 when she was 12 years old. Living in the rural community of Golomoti, Malawi, she was a bright, sporty pre-teen who enjoyed playing soccer with her friends.
Like most children, Gladys has future career goals—she told us she wants to be an engineer or a doctor. But at the time, Gladys was struggling to get a proper education because she spent so much time walking to a distant water well and handpump or the river to collect water for her family.
Without the opportunity to regularly attend school and study, her career was more of a dream than a real possibility.
I collect water from the borehole [African water well]. It is far—an hour trip—but the biggest challenge is that it is busy. So I go to the river more often. There are times I go in the afternoon, but that means I’m too busy fetching water to study.
But Gladys’s life has changed, thanks to the generosity of friends like you.
In December 2024, Water Mission completed our largest project to date in the East African country of Malawi—right in Gladys’s hometown.
The safe water project in Golomoti sources dirty, untreated water from a borehole. It pumps the water using solar power, treats it with five Erosion Chlorinators, and then distributes it to 21 centrally located tap stands.
More than 23,000 people received access to safe water for the first time, and it is still flowing day after day, month after month.
Water Mission’s safe water project in Golomoti continues to produce safe, clean water for Gladys and her community.
We reconnected with Gladys three years later.
Gladys is now 15 years old, and she’s the same energetic young girl who enjoys spending time with her friends and family.
She told us about the first time she turned on the tap near her house: “It was a great moment because it's the time I realized that—wow!—we will no longer be walking long distances and finding unsafe water. Now we have safe water close to us. This means I will have more time to concentrate on my studies…and also some time to play with friends.”
Thanks to faithful givers like you, safe water has continued to flow in Golomoti since Gladys first turned on the tap.
Gladys was excited to share about the impact that safe water has had on her life. First, safe water access has saved her precious time, allowing her to go to school and study.
Now we draw water from the tap…. It takes maybe five minutes. That has improved my life because I go to school in good time and wash my uniform.
Second, using safe water has improved Gladys’s family’s health.
Now we are protected from water diseases, like cholera and diarrhea. I feel good that my siblings don't need to go to the river where I used to go, and they are not suffering from water illnesses.
Third, the safe water project has turned her dreams into real possibilities.
I have a good hope for the future, because water is near my house. I know that the extra time that I have, I use it to study. That will help me to meet my dreams of becoming a doctor.
Gladys is flourishing because of you.
The support of partners like you made safe water possible and keeps it flowing in Golomoti. Thanks to you, Gladys can be a normal teenage girl—one who no longer carries the physical and emotional burdens of unsafe water.
Thank you for helping change Gladys’s life!
Related Impact Stories
