Q&A with DO’s New Malawi-based LifePump Technician. The Design Outreach (DO) global team is growing! Please join us in welcoming Dickson Wandawanda as DO’s new LifePump Technician based in Lilongwe, Malawi. Dickson will be responsible for leading LifePump installations and upgrades, providing training and support for village-level operations and maintenance, conducting hydrogeological mapping to determine the most ideal LifePump locations, … Read More
Introducing our new Stewardship Officer
This month, Design Outreach welcomed Emily Krichbaum, Ph.D. to the team! We’ve loved getting to know her, and we’d love for you to get to know her as well. Q: What brought you to DO? A: One of my favorite things about teaching history was communicating to various audiences and storytelling. At DO, I’m able to use this gift to … Read More
Introducing our new Chief Stewardship Officer
This month, Design Outreach welcomed Rhonda Davis-Comoretto to the team! Rhonda brings over twenty years of experience working with some of the most respected nonprofits at the local, state, national and international level, from COSI to the American Red Cross. We’ve loved getting to know her, and we’d love for you to get to know her as well. Q: What … Read More
Reflections from our founders
It seems like just yesterday that Greg and I were taking our first trip to Malawi to learn about communities in need of more reliable water technologies and dreaming about how Design Outreach might be able to help. That was over five years ago! It is incredible to look back and see all that has been accomplished through our team … Read More
Zolomondo & Chilekwa—almost 5 years later.
CEO and Co-founder Greg Bixler is in Malawi this week with Africa Field Director Beatrice Chisenga, Emmy award winning filmmaker Mike Edwards from The 5 Stones Group, and cameraman Danny Woods. They are working on a new short film highlighting the amazing transformation LifePump has had on the communities of Zolomondo and Chilekwa. These were the first two LifePumps installed … Read More
Moulin: The Journey to Bringing Safe & Reliable Water to a Community in Northwest Haiti
Five years ago, Bruce Robinson, of ODRINO, drove his well drilling rig up the mountains of arid Northwest Haiti to a remote community called Moulin. The people of Moulin currently had to walk either three quarters of a mile in one direction or one mile in another direction for water. However, these groundwater sources often recede in the brutal dry … Read More
2016: Greg’s Reflection
While traveling the globe this year for Design Outreach, I heard several responses from recipients of the LifePump I didn’t expect to hear, “Now I get to go to church” and “I’m praying for you so that other villages can get one of these pumps too.” I can’t stop thinking about our brothers and sisters across the globe in very … Read More
The LifePump – the Story of a 40 year Journey | Part 2
From Poverty to PhD As a child growing up 150 kilometers outside the urban center of Malawi’s Mzimba District—a rural region characterized by illiteracy rates of about 62 percent—Beatrice Chisenga spent her evenings poring over her school books, lit by the soft glow of a heavily fumed kerosene lamp. Exhausted from fetching firewood, pounding maize, helping cook meals for … Read More
The LifePump — the Story of a 40 year Journey | Part 1
Many of you are familiar with the success of the LifePump, but did you know that the LifePump story has actually been in the works for more than 40 years? We want to share with you how the LifePump came to be, and for that we need to rewind a bit! Below is Part 1 – featuring the incredible story of … Read More
Introducing Our New Fundraising Coordinator
We recently welcomed Amy Leffel to the Design Outreach team as a part-time Fundraising Coordinator. Amy comes with a vast array of experience and a deep passion for affecting the lives of the poor—both physically and spiritually. Our marketing partners at 212 Media Studios took a few minutes to get to know Amy, and thought you would love to meet … Read More