Wells for Zoë (WfZ) is a small Irish voluntary organisation founded by John and Mary Coyne and has been operating in Malawi for 14 years. It is funded by personal resources and supported by small worldwide donations with no Government funding. What makes this organisation so unique is that 100% of all donations go straight to the projects in Malawi.

On their first visit to Malawi in 2005 they witnessed the awful state of the drinking water and decided they had to do something. They sourced a suitable pump and use all local labour to manufacture it in Mzuzu, Malawi.  To date, they have provided about 750,000 of the poorest with clean, safe drinking water.

They also have a climate smart farm research and training project, using no GM seeds or Chemical Pesticides.  Malawian men and women have been given training and their horticulture department produces over 50,000 fruit trees annually by budding and grafting.

The foundation supports 200 preschools and they fund the education for over 300 girls in secondary school, where 5 have moved on to University and 2 to Nursing.

In 2018 they inspired their people to plant over 2.3 million trees on their own land by providing seeds, potting tubes and training. This year they are on track to plant over 4 million which will help to provide an income for food security and have a significant beneficial impact on the environment.

As John says – ‘It’s not about money – it’s about belief in people and inspiring them to believe in themselves. Hope is the greatest driver. But it’s also about doing instead of talking’.

Their approach to development is summed up by this quotation from a Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu in the 6th century:

“Go to the people.

Live with them. Learn from them. Love them.

Start with what they know. Build with what they have.

But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say ‘We have done this ourselves’.”

At the annual Ireland Chapter of Project Management Institute’s (PMI) National Project Awards held at Price Waterhouse Cooper’s the commitment of Mary and John Coyne was recognised.  Wells for Zoë was shortlisted and won the National Project Award for Social Good – Community Project of the Year 2019, sponsored by AIB.

Would you like to be a part of this incredible change and to reduce the carbon footprint of your flight at the same time? With WfZ is costs just €10-15 to plant 100 trees – donate today to help us achieve our goal of planting 4 million trees this year and changing lives forever.

A video describing the ideas and reasons behind the WfZ planting trees project that also neatly combats climate change.

The mould injection project shown here recycling plastic cups collected from an Ethiopian Airlines flight into the valves for the pumps.