Water, Dignity and the Common Good: Jesuit Partnership Tackles Water Challenges at UNZA
The initiative is expected to improve access to water for the Chaplaincy and the wider university community, where water shortages have affected students’ daily lives and activities.
This project, by far not insignificant, is a humble initiative made possible through the generosity of donors and partners, including the USA East Coast Jesuits and their Partners in Mission who were represented by Fr Kelly Michelo, SJ. Fr. Michelo is a Zambian Jesuit who when he was undertaking his doctoral studies in the USA, started fundraising for initiatives for access to safe clean water for communities and schools in Zambia. This UNZA borehole project, includes a borehole, a water tank and a supporting stand. It is intended to supplement ongoing sanitation works at the university and improve access to safe water and sanitation for essential daily activities.
The project is a further expression of how relationships across continents can mobilise resources to respond to urgent local needs. It is a true partnership rooted in solidarity, which according to the UNZA Catholic Media Team, is expected to benefit a wider university community of more than 30,000 students.
This timely UNZA Catholic Chaplaincy borehole project, happens at a time when 411million Africans still lack safe water and sanitation, undermining health, productivity, and human dignity. A progress report towards universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 , inform us that of Sub-Saharan Africa, has for various reasons, disappointingly and certainly not unexpectedly underperformed. Hitherto, less than 35% of Sub-Saharan population has access to a safely managed drinking water system, with less than 30% using safely managed sanitation or having facility with soap and water handwashing at home.
The initiative is not only a practical example of integral ecology in action but a commendable best practise of collaboration of Jesuits and partners in mission responding to pertinent challenges like access to safe and clean drinking water for all in the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar.
Access to clean water is a basic human right that is closely connected to and guarantees human dignity, public health, education and the common good. By responding to a basic need within a university community, the project demonstrates how faith-based institutions and partners can translate solidarity into concrete action. It also resonates with the 2026 Season of Creation theme, Living Water, by highlighting the essential role of water in sustaining life and supporting communities and creation.
The initiative further illustrates the value of partnerships in advancing ecological and social well-being. Its long-term impact will depend on responsible water use, proper maintenance of the facility and the sustainable management of the infrastructure.
The UNZA Catholic Chaplaincy borehole project offers an encouraging example hopefully to be emulated by many others of a locally grounded response to water insecurity, combining service to others (students), partnership and concern for the common good. It provides a useful example promoting practical initiatives that connect ecological responsibility with social justice and human flourishing.
