26th September 2012: This morning before 8, Harisen headed off with myself and a villager from Mzimba district into, for what was for me the great unknown. I was under the illusion that we were slipping up the road about 40km to see a new area
16th August 2012: William and Steven installed this pump in Doroba as a present to Mary on her wedding day tomorrow. This is in recognition of the amazing work she did while volunteering in Malawi and her continued support for the cause. She is certainly a
7th May 2012: This was probably the most serious village conference I've been at so far. It took place in the Chief's village of Ukani and was attended by the nine village headmen in the area. I have never seen so many old women together before and
On Friday last, Good Friday, 2012 we loaded up our gear including a film crew of students from DIT, 5 bags of cement, GPS and all our various regalia, to travel to a well site using precious fuel, over a bumpy road only to find
6th April 2012: We went to this village at the request of another organisation who needed to supply the village and a school with a pump. We went on Tuesday, with film crew onboard to record the first visit. We met the local headman and other
I think life often happens while your mind is on something else. I first met Lillian in early 2008, while driving by her house to a new pump location. This smiling charismatic woman was standing by the road, waving and greeting the first vehicle to
It doesn't take any kind of genius or perception to realise that Malawi will sink or swim on whether it's women get opportunities currently denied them. What brought us back to Malawi and inspired us form the organisation Wells for Zoë, was its women and
I will remember forever the first time I met Mary. She was thin, scrawny, fragile, timid and very afraid. Maybe she was afraid of me, being white, because at that time she had probably seen very few white faces. White people, even now are rarely
Now and again, when I have a minute, I reflect on my life and maybe wonder at how far I have come from my West Roscommon heritage. I mean the astonishing pace of progress, from thatch, candles, tilly lamps, bringing the sod of turf to
I suppose sometimes when I write it’s a bit of a rant, but today there’s a bit of an ulterior motive - a catch - which is serious; maybe a matter of life and death. For the past week we have been visiting schools, like 750
Do you like a story with a happy beginning, middle and ending: well this is one. Friends of our daughter Caitríona, John and Louise, are getting married today and wanted to give a meaningful pressie to their guests. They thought clean water is the one,
On February 11th last (2010), I sat beside an old gogo (granny) outside the pump factory in Mzuzu. We communicated with a real Malawi handshake and a few smiles. When I threw in my few words of Tumbuka, she bent over laughing. She was in