Today we’d like to introduce you to Simba Maswela.
Hi Simba, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I was born & raised in Zimbabwe and I immigrated to the United States in 2002. In 2011, I met Stacey Lambright, who had contracted me for a cleaning service. We quickly became friends & she started helping me with the vision I had, to provide clean water to those in need. That was the birth of Drill4life.
The full story is found on Drill4life.com. Initially, all I wanted was to help people in my village, however, after the first Well (Borehole), we realized that so many people were walking longer distances and we decided to start and register our Organization. Today, Drill4life has installed 14 Wells and has 8 active board members our goal is to provide 100 Clean Water Wells by 2030, in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road; Here are some of the hurdles;
-It is not easy to fund-raise money for each individual Well, a Well costs between 6-12k.
-Sometimes Wells goes deeper than expected, which costs more money than was fund-raised.
-Communication issues between us (the board), our Projects Manager on the ground, and the drilling contractor.
-Being able to find corporate sponsors.
-Multiple Wells in different provinces, our project manager does not have a vehicle.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have always liked to work in Customer Service, therefore, the Hotel Industry was my passion, and still to date, I enjoy it. I have worked for this company for more than 14 years, from being a Quality Consultant to a Corp Sr. Training Consultant. I enjoy training Hotel Operators on Leadership, Operations, and Several Corporate Programs to make our hotels the best home for our travelers.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I am not sure if I believe in Luck or I am not sure if it was luck or the hand of God; regardless, meeting Stacey was one of the luckiest happening in my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drill4life.com
- Facebook: @drill4life
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usmsKjdvQKc
Image Credits
@Stacey Lambright and @Dionne McCarthy
