P&G
Children’s Safe Drinking Water Initiative
Since 2016, Freshwater Project International has partnered with P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) initiative in Malawi to enhance and expand water access in rural communities, schools, and health centers.
The partnership prioritizes the distribution of water purification supplies to rural schools, expectant and new mothers at rural health centers, and communities affected by large-scale natural disasters, aiming to provide a bridge to safe drinking water and hygiene practices for students, staff, and families both at school and home.
Together Freshwater and CSDW have provided more than 81 million liters of clean water to more than 2 million people in Malawi!
Winnie’s Story
In rural Malawi, students often rely on unsafe water sources or walk long distances for water, exposing them to infections like cholera, trachoma, and diarrhea, disrupting their education.
During Malawi's worst cholera outbreak in over 20 years, Cyclone Freddy struck in March 2023, causing catastrophic floods that destroyed infrastructure, displaced thousands, and worsened the crisis.
Twelve-year-old Winnie Manda, a student at Pirimiti Girls Primary School, and her family were severely affected. Her father, Owen Manda, a Senior Preventive/Environmental Officer at Pirimiti Hospital, struggled to treat patients while their own water supply was contaminated, leaving them in urgent need of safe drinking water.
During the cholera outbreak, Winnie’s family, along with many others, relied on P&G water purification supplies distributed through her school.
These life-saving supplies enabled families to treat water in their homes, leading to a remarkable decrease in cholera cases in the communities around the hospital.
The ripple effect of this intervention was profound, as it protected countless lives and restored hope to a community in crisis.
