In 2021, WaterAid brought clean water to 131 households in Chinganji, Malawi. Since then, people have spent less time collecting dirty water, and more time on happier pursuits…

At 3pm, Monday, Wednesday and Friday – when girls elsewhere would be busy collecting water – the children of the Matamando Choir assemble at M'doko Baptist church. Their crisp white shirts gleam in the afternoon light, which falls in great slabs through the rough-brick windows. There is no electricity here, no means of recording or playing audio beyond a few battered cell phones with tinny speakers. Into this void, the purest light. It strikes you at the core of your being - hairs raised, skin prickling, chest full to bursting. The walls resound, and the tin roof quakes in its moorings. This is song at its most essential – a pure expression of joy, both message and medium. Its beauty is elemental.

And just as water nourishes the soil, so it nourishes the soul. Times are hard here. Amidst economic and environmental depredation, few people are prospering. But for those with water close to home, there are at least options. And with options, there is hope.

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