adminIt was a mandatory daily routine, which ended in happiness recently after the District Development Fund (DDF) rehabilitated a borehole in her home area.
With a large family of eight children, she spent a substantial part of her day on the road collecting the precious liquid for domestic use.
Her husband is working in South Africa together with some of their grown-up children, so, apart from the more exacting chore of collecting water, she also looks after the family livestock.
“I had to wake up early in the morning at around 4am to get water so that I can return home quickly. I would also take livestock to Gwayi River for drinking daily in the afternoon,” said Mrs Jwabu.
Following an outcry from villagers in the area about water shortage, DDF responded by drilling and flushing boreholes in many parts of arid Tsholotsho.
Flushing a borehole means servicing it by drawing water from underground so that all the water avenues are reopened. It also entails removing dirt from the borehole to enhance its output.
Mrs Sophie Vundla (62) from Siyaphambili, a grandmother of 10 also applauded DDF for repairing the borehole in her area as she had grown tired of walking a long distance to fetch water. She used to get up around the same time as Mrs Jwabu, but walked more frequently and a bit longer to reach Gwayi River to fetch water.
“Nine of my grandchildren whom I stay with are at primary school. I have to fetch water so that the children stay smart and also I need to go to Gwayi River as many as three times. I am really relieved because this was stressing me because I was finding it hard to walk six kilometres to fetch water and walk the same journey to fetch firewood,” said Mrs Vundla.
Their borehole at Siyaphambili was broken down. DDF recently repaired the pump with the community coming in handy to assist them preparing food for them.
Mrs Sheila Dube heaved a sigh of relief following the rehabilitation of the borehole. She was part of the group of locals which cooked for the DDF team. Most people spent a lot of time fetching water only overlooking other important tasks, she said.
“We are happy; today all of us here will have peaceful nights with sweet dreams. Every year we faced water problems, we hope that this is the end of all our water woes,” said Mrs Dube after the DDF team had flushed their community borehole.
Headman Jeremiah Nyathi (82) of Zamagwadi, said villagers were tired of walking long distances to fetch water. He however said the community needed another water source as the one borehole they had is unable to serve a community of about 250 households.
“Water is scarce in this area. Gwayi River has become our sole water source. We were planning to put up a timetable for people and livestock to come at different times like in the morning and afternoon so that we avoid congestion. We thank DDF for what they have done for us. Most of our livestock have died due to shortage of pastures but I also think that water shortages exacerbated the death of livestock,” said Headman Nyathi.
He said their borehole was drilled in the early 1960s and had not been operating for the past 10 years. It was recently flushed and is now working.
The rehabilitation of boreholes by DDF in Tsholotsho comes shortly after the Ministry of Water Resources and Management and the United Nations Children’s Fund launched a water, sanitation and hygiene programme, meant to address water and sanitation problems in five provinces.
The programme is funded to the tune of $50 million and is meant to benefit Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands, Masvingo and Mashonaland West provinces. It seeks to reduce, by 25 percent, the number of people without access to water and sanitation in rural areas.
Matabeleland North DDF provincial coordinator, Mr Lawrence Ndebele, said by early this month, they had flushed eight boreholes and drilled 11 and were looking forward to drilling 10 and flushing 25 more in Tsholotsho.
He said most of the borehole flushing was done because the water table had gone down.
“Due to breakdowns, more than 500 people are then forced to use one borehole leading to congestion.
“With many people and little rainfall, water levels decrease leading to less or no water at all,” said Mr Ndebele.
In Mago, a new borehole was sunk. It has a washing slab and a cattle trough to assist people who come for washing or to water their livestock.
Many people, some with donkey-drawn scotchcarts filled with water containers, others on foot and carrying 20-litre buckets, were at the new borehole to get the precious liquid recently. They were happy.
Mr Celani Ncube (21) said:
“As the only boy I was forced to go and fetch water for my aunt, it was stressing because it is a long journey, worse when using a wheelbarrow,” said Mr Ncube.
Mrs Loretta Mguni expressed gratitude and happiness at what DDF had done for the people of Mago.
“Twelve kilometres is not a joke. Our livestock are also served from this horrible life.
“We used to wake up early in the morning to get water and we would go back in the afternoon because a single bucket cannot sustain us for the whole day.
“We would also take our livestock at around 4 or 5pm for drinking. We were actually spending most of the day on the road and it was annoying because we nearly walked as many as 36 km to and from Gwayi,” said Mrs Mguni.
Velemu area in Ward Five is home to the San people in Tsholotsho district. Water is also a scarce commodity there like some parts in Tsholotsho. Villagers however say Velemu is worst affected.
“The borehole is no longer giving us enough water; it is now producing about five 20-litre buckets which is not enough for the community.
“We have to wait for some time to get water again,” said Mrs Sogwa Ncube (45) of Velemu.
“There is always chaos. Our livestock drink at that same borehole again. We have time for both livestock and people to come to the borehole.
“When you pitch up with your livestock yet it’s time for people to fetch water you have to wait.
“The problem is that it’s a long distance so when you arrive late you might find the borehole locked,” she said.
One of the projects that DDF embarked on was to desilt a canal that was built to reticulate water from Manzam’nyama River to eight dams. Gariya Dam is the largest and there are seven smaller ones.
Mr Ndebele said the dam was the best source of water for people in Gariya because borehole water was salty and unfit for drinking. Gariya Dam supplies people in Wards Seven and Eight and its wall is around five kilometres high.
Livestock and wild animals that include elephants drink from the dam.
“Tsholotsho is generally flat and there are no rivers so the canal will take water from Manzam’nyama River. The dam is of benefit to the community because it carries large volumes of water that will also help the community to restore its pride of having wild animals,” said Mr Ndebele.
Besides ameliorating the water problem in Tsholotsho, DDF also rehabilitated a road in Jimila-Sipepa area.
Mr Amos Mele Ndlovu (76) said the road is a huge benefit as it is going to be easy for them to get transport that passes through their area.
“The area is lagging behind in terms of development. We had to walk about six kilometres for transport.
“It was difficult for us to get to the bus stop during the rainy season. We had to wait or sleep in nearby areas that make our travelling arrangements boring. Some of us are old, we can not walk such a long distance,” said Mr Ndlovu.
DDF director of plant and equipment, Mr Fidelis Mudonhi, said he was impressed by the development in the area. He however, said lack of finance hindered them from embarking on more projects.
“Everything went according to plan and I am very impressed about this. I would like to thank the community for participating in our projects as they were cooking for our employees, this shows the spirit of togetherness among the community,” he said.
Online Reporter