Award-winning TV chef and broadcaster Andi Oliver has travelled to Malawi on an inspiring trip with WaterAid – as part of the charity’s To Be A Champion campaign, in partnership with the Wimbledon Foundation – to see first-hand how clean water is transforming the lives of mothers, babies and entire communities, and helping people thrive and reach their potential.
During her trip, Andi visited communities and healthcare facilities where WaterAid projects, funded by the Wimbledon Foundation, have provided clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. Meeting local champions such as midwives, healthcare workers and community leaders, Andi heard how clean water is transforming healthcare, helping support safer births and enabling people to build healthier, more resilient lives.
Globally, around 1.7 billion people still lack water within their healthcare facility. Every two seconds, a woman gives birth without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene – putting both her baby’s life at risk from infection. Yet simple essentials, like clean water and handwashing facilities, could cut maternal infections and deaths by at least 50%.
In Malawi, nearly a quarter of healthcare facilities do not have clean water and nearly three-quarters do not have handwashing facilities.
Just a few years ago, new mothers giving birth at Kangolwa Health Centre, in central Malawi’s Ntchisi district, were often forced to walk a 40-minute round trip down a steep path to collect dirty water or wash in contaminated rivers after giving birth, while healthcare workers struggled to maintain hygiene standards without a reliable water supply.
That changed in 2022 when funding from the Wimbledon Foundation, the official charity of The All England Lawn Tennis Club and The Championships, enabled WaterAid to work with local people to bring clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to the health centre and surrounding communities.
Loveness, 43, remembers giving birth before the water system was installed.
“I was so thirsty after giving birth, but there was no water. Luckily it was raining, so they collected rainwater from the roof for me to drink. I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been raining.”
Now the health facility’s guardian shelter – a maternity waiting centre for women who have travelled long distances, to prepare for birth – provides clean water, showers, toilets and kitchen facilities as well as beds.
Andi met Trinity, 26, who recently gave birth after staying there. Trinity says:
“When I delivered, I was comfortable. I bathed in the hospital, and we didn’t have to go anywhere to look for water. We were able to wash our things without having to leave the facility.”
The transformation is also being felt by healthcare workers. Blessings, a midwife who has worked at Kangolwa Health Centre for more than nine years, remembers the challenges staff faced before water arrived. He says:
“There used to be a lot of infections. We would suspect babies and mothers were becoming sick with infections like sepsis because we couldn’t keep things as clean as they needed to be. Since the water system was installed, we don’t see those cases anymore.
The impact has also extended to the wider community. Dyson, a local farmer, has expanded his vegetable garden to include tomatoes, creating a new source of income and improving his livelihood. He says:
“Before this I used to just concentrate on farming in my garden, I used to grow ground nuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes. The tomatoes have changed my life because [with] tomatoes, you’re able to make a lot of profit on a small piece of land and that would not have been possible before the water was here.”
Reflecting on the visit, Andi said:
“Meeting Trinity and Dyson really brought home just how important clean water is. Something many of us take for granted can mean the difference between safety and danger, dignity and hardship.
“Nothing is possible without water. It underpins everything; our health, our opportunities and our futures.”
During her visit, Andi also met Dina, 37, a mother and community leader from Mkambisi, where WaterAid is due to start drilling for water in the next few months, with funding from the Wimbledon Foundation.
Currently, Dina wakes daily at 2am and spends up to eight hours a day travelling up and down a very steep, muddy path – often in total darkness – to collect 40 litres of water from a source shared with animals. Girls as young as nine make the same journey, often arriving late to school exhausted and unable to concentrate.
Dina says:
“Once the water is clean and safe, that will be real freedom for us … my life can be fulfilled, I will have peace, knowing that everything is fine. I am a carpenter, so I really want to have my own small bench where I can work and teach children. Because in our area, having a female carpenter is something unusual.”
Andi said:
“What really stayed with me was meeting Dina. Despite spending years making daily exhausting journeys to collect water, she was full of hope and ambition for the future.
“Having clean water in this village will be like turning on a switch. Turning the lights on. Turning hope on. Turning possibility on.
“When people have water, they have the chance to build the future they want.”
Since 2017, WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation have worked together with communities in eight countries across Africa and Asia, helping bring clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to healthcare facilities that serve nearly 930,000 people.
In Ntchisi district alone, WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation have supported seven healthcare facilities and 10 surrounding communities with clean water systems and hygiene programmes.
Jennie York, Executive Director of Communications and Fundraising at WaterAid, said:
“Every champion, on or off the court, needs the foundations that allow them to be their best, and it starts with clean water. Clean water unlocks health, opportunity and potential, helping people stay strong, support their families and build brighter futures.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Wimbledon Foundation for their continued commitment to this work, and to Andi Oliver for shining a light on the community champions who are creating change every day.”
Paige Murphy, Head of the Wimbledon Foundation, said:
“We’re proud of our partnership with WaterAid, which is bringing people in Malawi, and globally, the clean water they need to lead healthy, active lives full of potential. Through this year’s To Be A Champion campaign, we’re celebrating the remarkable people around the world who are building stronger, healthier futures for themselves and for their communities. Clean water creates opportunities, and we’re delighted to support work that is helping more people realise their potential.”