Rivers are Life Premieres ‘Under the African Sun’ Solving Zimbabwe’s Clean Water Crisis

Today, Rivers are Life unveiled the latest documentary highlighting the Zambezi River and the surrounding communities that depend on it for access to clean water. As Zimbabwe’s dry seasons increase in length, with 2022 being its driest year on record, river levels drop and can no longer generate energy used for electricity, as well as clean water used for bathing, drinking and growing crops. In 2017, Leonard Maronda and “Brother Bill” Evans began working together to drill boreholes in these remote villages to provide fresh water, free of charge.

Leonard Maronda, who is the local facilitator of the Mission House in Zimbabwe, as well as International Director at Far and Away Missions handles the preparation and coordination of the borehole drilling in these rural areas that lack infrastructure. Alongside Leonard is “Brother Bill” Evans, a pastor and Director of Non-Profit, Quench Ministries, which helps facilitate the digging of freshwater wells for the underserved around the world. 

“I had been asked to come here to preach the gospel and we gathered underneath the tree, and I see all the children sitting out in front of me with their water jugs and I saw how dirty their jugs were,” said Brother Bill. “I thought to myself, ‘I wouldn’t give my dog water out of those jugs,’ and it broke my heart, and I knew I had to do something.”

To date, Leonard and Brother Bill have installed 11 wells in remote areas, while repairing a number of others that have provided an estimated 44,000 gallons a day of potable drinking water. As power outages in the area are a normal occurrence, varying from five minutes long to being without power for five days, these boreholes are essential in providing clean water for people who would have otherwise had very limited and/or painstaking access to this vital resource.

“Under the African Sun” premieres July 25 and will be a reminder for just how essential clean water access is to communities and ecosystems across the globe.

Watch “Under the African Sun” here.