MPONELA, Malawi (KDVR) — It’s a country many people have never heard of, and most likely couldn’t find on a map. But Betty Samuelson of Monument, Colorado has made Malawi an annual destination for nearly 20 years, traveling the bumpy backroads of the East African nation from village to village, bringing hope to the hopeless in one of the poorest, least developed countries on earth.
Samuelson is one of 19 American volunteers currently in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, volunteering with a non-profit called Marion Medical Mission. The charity has worked with local villagers to install more than 50,000 shallow water wells that bring safe, sustainable drinking water to villages where locals often drink from mud holes shared with animals. The group hopes to install 4,000 wells this year alone. They also install wells in Mozambique.
“How do you deny anybody clean water?” Samuelson said.
This year, the retired Colorado nurse is joined by two of her daughters: Molly McGee, a nurse from Fort Collins, and Kate Kraushaar, who grew up in Colorado Springs and currently lives in Switzerland.
“My mom’s talked about it forever and I wanted to help people and be a part of it,” said McGee.
“It’s really touching to think that one well can serve a whole village and how many people can be in the village and get clean water. And that you actually really can make a difference and literally save people’s lives,” Kraushaar said.
Their friend Bonnie Brummer, who’s also a nurse in Fort Collins, couldn’t wait to join them, too.
“I came here 21 years ago with a different medical mission. It was life-changing. I’ve always wanted to come back to do a trip in Africa. There is a pulse to this whole continent that is amazing,” Brummer said.
The wells are dug and constructed entirely by local villagers. Field supervisors from Marion Medical Mission make sure the well meets specifications, and then a team comes to install the pump to get the water flowing. The job of the American volunteers is to verify the wells that have been built will provide the rural poor with safe drinking water, take a GPS reading, a picture of the well, and take part in a handover celebration.
That celebration, filled with singing and dancing, is Samuelson’s favorite part.
After just a few days of work, the team has already had a hand in getting safe water to 41,000 people. And while that is cause for celebration, the hard work’s just beginning. Over the next few weeks, Betty and the other volunteers will cover 60,000 bumpy square miles across this part of Africa, delivering far more than just pipes and supplies. They’re delivering hope to the hopeless.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
