Month: December 2025

Community, Healthcare, Malawi

New and improved spring water collection

Phunzira

Nyumba ya Masambiro has always been lucky to have good access to water, despite being up the valley from the lake. A natural spring, which flows year-round, even in the dry season, is situated at the top of NYM’s land. 

During Covid, this spring water was channelled into a small settling pond and then piped to the Health Centre, just next door to NYM to allow for easy access to clean water that the facility. The remainder continued to flow towards NYM for the needs there. 

This December, a team from the NYM staff, the health centre staff and some experts from the community centre worked together to rechannel the water. A fresh concrete reinforced settling tank was built, as well as a water tank able to hold approximately 1,000litres at a time. Pipework was installed to pipe the water from the storage tank direct to both the health centre and a newly installed stand pipe at Nyumba ya Masambiro. 

The new system better preserves and channels the water to both institutions, allowing for cleaning, flushing toilets and showers at the health centre and a constant supply of water at NYM, which many community members who live up the valley away from the lake come to use on a daily basis. 

The trees planted by the EARTH Workshops team from Nkhata bay will continue to preserve the spring as a water source for years to come, and a bamboo fence protects the water source from roaming and grazing animals, keeping the water source clean and safe. 

Community, Donations, Education, Malawi

Library books shared with Bunga, Khondowe and Stepping Stones

Phunzira

Following an extensive reorganising and clear out of the Nyumba ya Masambiro library, by volunteers Jeremy and Norma alongside the staff at NYM, we were delighted to be able to donate some text books in English, maths, the sciences, some novels and more to Khondowe CDSS (Community Day Secondary School) and Bunga CDSS within our catchment area, as well as Stepping Stones Primary School in Nkhata Bay, which recently opened their library and skills centre to the wider community. We are delighted that these books, which we had in multiple duplicates, could be shared to other institutions, which otherwise would not have access to such a range of books. 

Community, Education, Malawi

EARTH workshops return to Ruarwe and the surrounding area

Phunzira

Nyumba ya Masambiro was delighted to welcome back Thom and Maxwell from the EARTH Workshops programme at Butterfly Space in Nkhata Bay. While they had primarily been invited by local farmers and gardeners to visit Kwenthu, in the mountains behind Ruarwe and within the NYM catchment area, they came via Nyumba ya Masambiro to maximise the impact of their visit to this remote community.

The EARTH Workshops team first ran a refresher training session at NYM for staff and interested community stakeholders. The session focused on water preservation and sustainable land management. As part of the training, they brought 50 seedlings of indigenous trees and fruit vines to be planted on and around NYM’s land.

Several of the indigenous tree species were specifically selected for their deep tunnelling root systems, which play a vital role in water management. Together, the group planted some of these trees around the natural spring just above NYM’s land. This spring provides year-round water to both Nyumba ya Masambiro and the health centre next door. The trees’ deep roots help create channels down to the water table, drawing water upwards and helping to ensure the spring continues to flow even during the dry season. In addition, their roots stabilise the soil on the hillside, while their branches and broad leaves provide shade to reduce water loss through evaporation.

Following the session at NYM, Thom and Maxwell travelled uphill to Kwenthu to lead a two-day follow-up workshop with local farmers. The farmers had attended training last year and specifically requested this return visit to reinforce lessons learned and to discuss challenges they had encountered while implementing new techniques. It was encouraging to see such commitment to sustainable farming practices within the community.

The remaining seedlings will be planted around the spring and across NYM’s land once protective fencing has been secured to guard against goats and pigs. We look forward to many more years of clean, clear water flowing from the spring as a result of this important work.

A huge thank you to the team from EARTH Workshops for making the journey to Ruarwe and for so generously sharing your knowledge and expertise with our community.