adminfor a day, mind you, but for years on end?
Growing up in Highfield many years ago, water was one of those commodities that was available everywhere. In fact, just like electricity, running water was one of those indicators of being in town or shall I call it the city.
The city was one place associated with treated, gushing water from the tap and bright lights.
I am taken back to those times after watching soccer and netball matches at Mhizha Primary School when we would queue by the water tap to have a drink of water, straight from the tap.
We could never have imagined that there would come a time when schools, primary schools, at that, would have to make do without water?
Such a situation was unimaginable.
But today it has become a reality. If schools do not invest in boreholes, they will have no water and just imagine what those toilets the schoolchildren use will be like. These days it has become normal to see people drive around with water containers at the back of their vehicles? It has become normal too to see little children moving around alongside their mothers, who will be carrying babies on the back, carrying buckets of water from one point to the next. Clean, running water has become a luxury in this city and beyond.
There are many cities and towns in Zimbabwe that today no longer expect water out of their taps and true to their expectation, it does not come out. We were laughing with some friends of mine who live in Greendale about how their water taps are now just for show. One of them, who does not have a borehole, said her bathroom is filled with buckets that are also filled with water, which the family uses for bathing and laundry.
Her taps, she said, were actually rusty. She has not had water at her house for the past four to five years.
Her cousin from Mandara, who was with us on that occasion, said she had to get a water pump and connect it to the taps so that they could have running water.
Water there comes erratically, at times at midnight once every three weeks or a month.
She complained about the money she was spending buying water every week just so her toilets could flush, her children could have a real bath and her staff could have running water to do dishes and every other chore in the house. It is that bad.
I do not know about you but the last time I checked; water was an essential commodity.
A human being who goes without water will obviously wilt and die. There is nothing else to it.
In fact, experts will also tell you that the body is made up of water more than anything else. It is for that reason that water, is placed alongside food, shelter and love when it comes to the essentials that a human being needs in life. Let us just think; is there anything that we do that does not require water?
For us to eat, we need water. Those who do not cook may not appreciate it but for our families to eat healthy, a lot of water is used to clean and prepare the meals we dish out to our families. Ever since the cholera epidemic led to the deaths of many in this country, we can never underestimate the importance of practicing good hygiene. These days we tell our children to wash their hands each time they visit the toilet and before meals. But if some schools do not have running water, do we truly think the children, especially those in primary schools, will bother?
By their very nature children cannot be bothered with quite a lot of things so if we are not going to ensure that the water is available, then we cannot blame them for just foregoing the all-important washing of hands.
But shall we watch while the nation burns? I hear areas like Highfield, Glen View, Glen Norah, and many others have been experiencing serious water shortages recently. In fact, some have gone for several days without water. From what I know most of these households in high-density areas are home to several families, including the tenants who stay at the same property with their landlords.
These people in most cases share one toilet and bathroom and just the thought of how they are supposed to live without water for a day, let alone several days, is beyond me.
How someone should live without water at all, as was happening in Bulawayo all this while, until we saw initiatives such as the Big Flush, where residents could only flush at an allocated time, is totally beyond me. Yes, city fathers in Harare and Bulawayo have explained their issues, which range from a shortage of treatment chemicals to obsolete equipment and systems, but explaining is not going to cut it as long as there is no water coming out of people’s taps.
Explaining does not mean anything to the grandmother in Glen View who has to drink water from a shallow well whose safety is very much in doubt because there is no other choice left to her.
Explaining does not mean anything to a people who now have to dig wells everywhere as if we are in the rural areas.
Explaining does not mean anything to a people who have to buy water when water is God-given. Explaining does not mean anything when diarrhoeal diseases have become the leading killer in the country.
Water is a basic requirement. There are things that people can do without, such as driving a big flashy car, wearing a label or even spotting the most expensive hairstyle but truth be told, one cannot do without water. You can come from any part of the world but as long as you are human, you need water.
Hence we need some seriousness when it comes to the water situation in this country. Water is life. Let us ensure it is available. And this is as serious as it gets.
Online Reporter