adminNgonidzashe Chiutsi Health Correspondent
Lukona Village in Bubi District has scored a first by becoming the first village to attain open defecation-free status in Matabeleland North after a local non-governmental organisation, HelpAge Zimbabwe, assisted in the construction of ablution facilities. Speaking during a media tour of the district last week, local Sanitation Action Group chairperson Mrs Nelia Moyo said all the 37 homesteads in Lukona now had toilets after embarking on a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) programme in 2013.
“Before this Wash programme that started in 2013, the whole village only had six households with ablution facilities but now all the 37 households have a toilet. When HelpAge Zimbabwe came to this area and demonstrated to us the dangers of not having a toilet, we were really touched and I volunteered to be the chairperson to spearhead the construction of toilets here,” said Mrs Moyo.
“We didn’t have money but people came together and fund-raised to buy cement and other building material. We want to thank HelpAge Zimbabwe for initiating the programme and we challenge them to help other villages without ablution facilities.”
Lukona Village Head Mr Livion Moyo also echoed the same sentiments and said people were using bushes when nature called.
“The situation was bad in this village and people were using the bush to relieve themselves and risked contracting diseases like cholera but it’s now a thing of the past in this area,” said Mr Moyo.
Bubi district administrator Mr Tapiwa Zivovoyi said the district has a population of 62 000 and most of them were newly resettled villagers who still needed help in sanitation infrastructure.
“Three quarters of the people in Bubi district are predominantly new settlers who came here during the land reform. There is still a challenge of open defecation and we still need help in the area,” said Mr Zivovoyi.
HelpAge Zimbabwe programme manager Mr Adonis Faifi told the Sunday News that helping villagers to build toilets was one of many programmes they were running in Bubi.
“We are doing a Wash programme which started in 2013 and the programme is ending next year, June 2016. The programme is in two phases and the first phase ended in 2014 and the second phase started in 2015 and is ending in June 2016,” he said.
He said the programme was divided into four thematic areas with one of them being demand-led sanitation.
“Under the demand-led sanitation programme, we were giving one bag of cement to every household to construct the hole of the toilet and they will find the rest of the material and build the toilet on their own. We were also teaching the villagers about the importance of having a toilet at home,” said Mr Faifi.
He said the programme was targeting all the wards in Bubi after a pilot programme was started in Lukona.
He said under the programme they also helped the vulnerable people in the district by building toilets for them.
“We gave the vulnerable people all the material to build the toilets, such as cement and we would then request the community to help in the digging of the pits,” Mr Faifi said.
Mr Faifi said they were also building school latrines and boreholes in the area to improve sanitation in the district.
Online Reporter