Brittany Harris returns to Malawi for ninth trip with Water Wells for Africa

Brittany Harris will travel to Malawi in November for her ninth visit with Water Wells for Africa, revisiting villages where clinics have flagged waterborne disease risk and where new wells are already changing health outcomes. Her return highlights how a childhood fundraiser that began at age 9 has grown into a full-time career in clean water work.

Why it matters: - Harris is returning to villages where clean water access is tied directly to lower waterborne disease risk. - The trip gives Water Wells for Africa a chance to compare clinic reports before and after well installation. - Harris’s story shows how a youth-led fundraiser grew into a long-term clean water program that now serves thousands of people.

What happened: - Brittany Harris will travel to Malawi in November for her ninth trip with Water Wells for Africa. - Harris began raising money for clean water as a third grader in Friendswood, Texas. - Her childhood fundraiser, Brittany’s Dream, started with Thanksgiving pies made in her family’s kitchen. - Harris now works full-time with Water Wells for Africa. - The upcoming trip will revisit rural villages that local health clinics identified as especially hard-hit by waterborne illness. - Those communities have since received Water Wells for Africa wells.

The details: - Harris first saw the need for clean water at age 9 after a church concert video showed families in Africa drinking dirty water. - That same school year, her class studied Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and Harris wrote: “I have a dream that kids in Africa will have clean water.” - Brittany’s Dream grew from a small bake sale into a community tradition. - By high school, Harris and volunteers were baking 300 to 500 pies and 2,000 to 3,000 cake balls in four days over Thanksgiving break. - Ingredients were donated through school drives and by Harris’s parents. - Desserts had no set price, and donors gave what they felt led to give. - Every dollar went to water wells. - From 2013 to 2026, Brittany’s Dream raised a quarter of a million dollars. - At 13, Harris found a video called “The Malawi Mountain Project” while preparing a presentation for her church. - Harris’s mother recognized the project and reconnected the family with mission pastor Kurt Dahlin. - Harris began raising funds for Water Wells for Africa that same year. - Harris also organized three Walks for Water in Friendswood and one in College Station. - The walks raised funds and awareness about the daily distances many women travel to fetch water. - Harris studied marketing with a focus on professional selling at Texas A&M University and minored in entrepreneurship. - She joined Water Wells for Africa as an intern in the spring of her sophomore year. - Harris continued part-time through graduation, handling social media and outreach. - As a senior, Harris expected to keep water wells as a passion outside her career. - Dahlin later offered her full-time work with the organization. - Harris’s mother traveled with her to Malawi twice, when Harris was 14 and 16. - Harris’s sister Jordynne joined her first trip. - Harris’s first two Malawi trips were as a donor, her third was as an intern, and the next five were as Water Wells for Africa staff. - Harris has now traveled to Malawi eight times before this upcoming trip. - In February, the Water Wells for Africa team visited local health clinics to study waterborne diseases such as cholera. - The team gave clinics a list of Water Wells for Africa villages in their area and asked for illness reports. - Clinics reported no waterborne illness cases in any village where Water Wells for Africa had installed a well. - The team also asked clinics to name the villages most affected by waterborne illness. - Water Wells for Africa then began installing wells in those high-priority communities. - In November, Harris plans to meet clinic staff again to measure how clean water is affecting community health. - Water Wells for Africa says Brittany’s Dream raised enough money to install more than 30 water wells serving 15,000 people.

Between the lines: - The clinic feedback gives the organization a built-in before-and-after health check. - The story also shows how local fundraising, family involvement and long-term donor relationships can scale into measurable international aid. - Harris’s return to the same clinics and villages adds a rare layer of continuity to a clean-water project that is usually measured well after installation.

What’s next: - Harris and the Water Wells for Africa team will continue visiting the high-priority villages identified by clinics. - The team will use those visits to track how clean water access is affecting illness rates. - Harris plans to keep using her platform to show young people that age is not a barrier to making an impact.

The bottom line: - A pie fundraiser started by a child has become a sustained clean-water effort with health data, community reach and a full-circle return to Malawi.