Check Out Simba Maswela’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Simba Maswela.

Hi Simba, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The Story Behind Drill4Life
In the summer of 2011, a chance meeting between Stacey and 1 began a journey that would ultimately change lives in rural Zimbabwe. I met Stacey after responding to a carpet-cleaning advertisement. What started as a routine service appointment quickly turned into hours of conversation as I shared stories about my home village of Rushinga, Zimbabwe, and the challenges my family faced.
As one of eleven children, I had witnessed immense hardship, including the loss of three siblings to AIDS-related illnesses. Living in the United States, I worked tirelessly to support my family back home, often sacrificing my own needs to provide food, medicine, and financial assistance. Moved by my story, Stacey developed a deep friendship with me and became committed to helping me and my community.
Through Stacey’s encouragement and referrals, I was able to build a stable life in America and eventually reunite with my family. However, after 10 years in USA I visited Zimbabwe again in 2012 and I faced devastating reality. Years of drought had left the region struggling to survive. Families traveled long distances to collect unsafe water from a deep hand-dug pit in dry riverbeds, as I used to do when I was younger. The contaminated water contributed to disease, hunger, and the loss of livestock, threatening the survival of the entire village, this was not new to me.
Determined to understand the crisis firsthand, I joined villagers on their daily journey for water and witnessed the dangerous conditions they endured, that brought memories. Not having access to clean water was a pandemic. I shared photos and videos with Stacey, who was deeply affected by what she saw. Together, we realized that access to clean water was the key to transforming the community’s future.
Our initial plan was to raise funds for a borehole/Well through another existing nonprofit organization. After more than a year of unsuccessful attempts to find a reliable partner, we decided to take matters into our own hands. In January 2014, we founded Drill4Life, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing sustainable access to clean water in rural Sub-Saharan Africa.
What began as a simple carpet-cleaning appointment became a powerful partnership built on friendship, compassion, and a shared commitment to improving lives. Drill4Life was born from the belief that access to clean water is not a privilege, but a basic human necessity.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Challenges:
– Lowering water tables & global warming.
– Not having enough funds for the number of requests we receive, esp. after USAID pulled out of Africa.
– Monitoring & borehole maintenance.
– Logistics when coordinating the crisis in another country.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I graduated with a BA in Business from Univ. of Wilmington, DE. while working full time in hospitality industry. As business minded as I am, I also embarked on cleaning houses and carpets on the weekends. The company I work for moved me to Columbus, Ohio back in 2009, hence his meeting Stacey, Jim Lambright & Dionne McCarthy.

I am known in the community for helping people and have been volunteering with homeless shelters and other local community projects. I am currently a Senior Trainer with a huge hospitality company here in the US and have been for the past 18 years. I believe Drill4life is and will continue to be the answer not only for Zimbabwe but for the whole continent of Africa.

Any big plans?
My Hope and plans;
– To Retire and focus more on Drill4life projects.
– To continue reaching more & more & more people with no access to clean water!
– To bring clean, accessible water to not only Zimbabwe, but to countries all over Africa facing this global water crises and provide sanitary facilities near installed boreholes/Wells.

Pricing:

• $10000 for an entire water project

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.drill4life.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drill4_life
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/Drill4life.org
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/qy5IfW0bH6g