adminPhyllis Kachere recently in MWENEZI, Masvingo
As he shakes and turns his head, shielding his eyes from the blazing sun, 14-year-old grade seven pupil Lipius Magwangu explains why he sometimes misses class as he has to make a choice between attending classes or watering his family’s only source of livelihood-the prized 28 herd of cattle.
Lipius explained to The Herald how every day, since he was six, him and his three cousins, all from Takura cattle ranching resettlement scheme in Gudo Mutovhoti area in Ward 14, Mwenezi district walk 6km (to and fro) the Takura bush pump borehole to water their families’ combined cattle herd of 52.
The boys took over the task from their elder brothers, some of whom have grown up and left the village either join the trek to South Africa in search of jobs, or have become family men and participants in the area’s major source of livelihood; cattle ranching.
“We have to manually draw the water for all the 52 beasts and a few goats. It is a tiresome and painful exercise; each beast drinks at least 75 litres of water. To make matters worse, we do not have a cattle drinking trough, which we can fill up and let the cattle have their daily intake. Instead, we manually pump the water as the cattle drink.
“We are not the only families who use this borehole for household use and to water our livestock; there are more than 100 other families too. “Our local school, Takura Primary School about 1.5km away from this borehole does not have a borehole; it relies on this same water point for all its needs,” explains Lipius.
Chitoro Village head Mr John Chitoro (75) whose village, with 27 others is in the Muzhanjire Ranch said watering livestock is a real challenge at the Takura borehole.
“There is pressure on this manual bush pump borehole. Thousands of villagers rely on it. It is uncommon to have disputes emanating from this borehole. Some walk for as long as 4-5km to come here to water livestock and draw water for household use.
Because we have to manually draw the water, the delay gets longer and impatience creates friction. Our plea is to have this borehole solarized and piped,” said Mr Chitoro.
Mwenezi district falls under natural regions 4 and 5, which are normally dry with erratic rains and prone to drought.
It is against this background that the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is implementing the third pillar of the Hunger Crisis Programme in the Mwenezi District targeting three wards.
ZRCS secretary general Mr Elias Hwenga explained that the Zero Hunger programme has three major pillars which are Food Security & Livelihoods, Health & Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
“The Hunger Crisis programme is part of the IFRC and ZRCS’s urgent and massive action to scale up life-saving assistance to vulnerable communities facing acute food insecurity in Zimbabwe. At the same time, through long-term programming, the ZRCS will address the root causes of food insecurity whilst building upon its previous successes and work in support of government plans and frameworks in building the resilience of the most impoverished communities,” said Mr Hwenga.
The programme targets 850 households in three wards in Mwenezi district.
Under the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene pillar, borehole assessments have been done in the three wards to assess the functionality status of the boreholes and the nature of repairs that need to be done.
Fifteen boreholes are earmarked for rehabilitation in wards 5, 8 and 14 with the Takura borehole being earmarked for solarisation and piped water schemes.
Mwenezi district water technician Mr Collen Mbelechi said the Takura borehole which is in the formerly Sonop Farm, was perennial with potential to provide water to over 2 500 households through piped water schemes.
“If motorised, Takura borehole can provide water to over 2 500 households and livestock. It is a perennial borehole that never dries, making it more reliable than the rest of the available water sources. “The borehole is in a thicket, so creation of piped water schemes will minimize the long distances walked by villagers in search of water. It being in a thicket also presents a security risk for women and girls as they face sexual assault from the community perverts. The piped water schemes will help set up nutrition gardens, which we hope will assist improve the nutritional needs of the community,” said Mr Mbelechi.
He said the nearby Takura Primary School stood to benefit from the piped water scheme.
In Gara Village in Ward 8, Ms Fortunate Chitofu said they walk 4km to get water at the Utsanana borehole.
“When the Utsanana borehole breaks down, which is too often nowadays because it is an old one, we resort to fetching water from the Dinhe River. The water is unsafe and the river also dries up in October, forcing us to walk longer distances in search of water. This exposes us (mothers and girl children) to a high risk of sexual assault from perverts,” she said.
Online Reporter