Orphaned at the age of 7, Charles Banda grew up with various relatives in the rural villages of Malawi. He walked 14 kilometers to school, without shoes, and hid a bottle of murky water in the bushes for his long walk home. Despite these challenges, he excelled in school and went on to become a professional aviation fireman at the Blantyre International Airport. To earn a little extra money so he could buy a loaf of bread for his family, he also drove a taxi after hours. On weekends he served as a preacher in the rural villages. It was on a Sunday morning when he arrived at a village and was informed that the morning services had to be canceled due to an outbreak of cholera that he decided to change his path in life.      

Mr. Banda decided that it wasn’t enough to preach the word of God – he had to take action and give the people what they truly needed – clean water. In 1995, he started saving his money from his taxi fares so he could build his first well. When his wife, Evalyn, questioned why he no longer brought a nice loaf of bread home to the family he explained he was saving up for a well – and she got behind him 100%. Banda gives a lot of credit to Evalyn for staying by his side through years of struggling to survive on minuscule budgets after he retired as a fireman and devoted his life to providing water to the poorest people of his country.  

Freshwater Malawi is committed to implementing a ‘social work’ approach to solving water problems, and prioritizes community engagement and ownership in all projects. Since 1995 the organization has provide more than 2,000 wells and more than 5,000 pit latrines, and gained support from local and international foundations and organizations. In 2008 Freshwater Malawi was acknowledged by UNICEF as an exemplary water NGO in Africa.