adminwho has watched the nearest Nyatikonde Dam that used to provide water for habitants of her area dry up.
She has seen many meetings on how to solve the problem being attended by men while on her way to look for water.
Mutumba has a list of what she wants Government to do to improve the water situation, but is not given the opportunity to speak when it comes to decision- making.
But when given the platform to talk, she speaks her mind.
“I want Government to bring big caterpillars and repair the dam. It does not keep water for long and if they bring the caterpillars, there are good chances that the dam will keep water for long,” she says.
Mutumba explains how the dam provides water for both livestock and humans and the battle the two sometimes get into.
“You have to come early if you want clean water for your laundry. Coming late means getting dirty water as cattle would have in and out of the shallow dam,” she adds.
The young mother reveals that they get scarce drinking water from the only functioning borehole in the area.
“The borehole water is only for drinking and cooking. We are trying to preserve it. Water for any other uses come from the dam,” she points out.
The two 25-litre containers of borehole water she fetches everyday do not last her for long. To manage the situation, she keeps a close eye on her child.
“If my child wants water, I make sure that he drinks it all. I do not allow him to throw away a single drop of water because not having it close by has made realise its importance,” she notes.
Another villager Memory Nyamande or Nyamande Village said they have not had borehole water for the past three years.
She knows that their borehole is not working but does not know what the problem is. Only the men in the area know. For as far as she is concerned, ways to solve the problem will be discussed by men, she has never been invited to the meeting yet they are the ones who always look for clean and safe drinking water while men herd cattle.
Nyamande and many other women in her area now fetch water from a hole they dug in the middle of a dry river.
The waterhole is covered by a piece of metal and is surrounded by some poles to prevent animals from drinking from it. They also fear the water may get contaminated resulting in water-borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and typhoid.
Nyamande speaks of the challenges faced by women in the area as a result of water shortages.
“It has always been the woman’s duty to provide water for the family. We feel the pinch in times like these. We have serious challenges when it comes to doing household chores. We need water for many things that include cooking, doing laundry, bathing ourselves and children and watering our gardens. Women also face serious challenges during menstruation when there is no water. Some girls do not even go to school.
“We travel 5km daily to get here and usually leave at 5am. One can spend up to five hours to fetch water using a small plate that fits in the hole so that we collect enough for a day and maybe two. You can fetch up to 40 litres per person per day and have up to two trips to and from home,” she says.
Mrs Grace Mhaka, who has five children, makes two trips to do her laundry at the dam each week.
There is no other place she can get water to wash the clothes and makes sure she gets to the dam by 6am.
“I wake up my children very early so that we get here while the water is still clean. We do the laundry and also fetch water for bathing. I am more affected by water challenges unlike my male counterparts,” she says.
Increasing population, drying up of rivers and dams especially during this time of the year and growing demand for water for domestic and agricultural purposes is putting pressure on the only available water source in the area.
A media guide to water reporting prepared by SIRDC says Integrated Water Resource Management emphasises the important synergy that exists between gender equality and sustainable water management but in this part of the country, women’s role is only to look for water but not play a part in managing the scarce resource.
Striking a gender balance is often taken as expanding women’s involvement as they are usually insufficiently involved in decision making on water issues.
In most African countries, women like Nyamande and Mutumba play a key role in the collection of water for domestic and agricultural use, but in many societies, they are excluded from water management decisions.
In rural areas like Mudzi where resources are scarce, there is competition for supplies, and those at the lowest end of the power spectrum, usually poor women, will go without, unless special provision is made to involve them.
The guide says lack of water and sanitation precludes many girls from pursuing an education. It also excludes women from participating in income-generating aspects of the economy and their labour often goes unrecognised.
Women are generally responsible for maintaining family health and hygiene, a role that makes them crucial actors in fighting diseases that can be caused by contaminated water.
Roughly 60 percent of infant mortality worldwide is linked to water related infectious and parasitic diseases including common ailments such as diarrhoea, intestinal worms, trachoma, bilharzia and cholera.
The pivotal role of women as providers and users of water and guardians of the living environment has seldom been reflected in institutional arrangements for the development and management of water resources.
Acceptance and implementation of this principle requires positive policies to address women’s specific needs, and to equip and empower them to participate at all levels in water resources programmes, including decision making and implementation.
Gender-sensitive, environmentally sound, locally appropriate and affordable technologies are needed to realise water sanitation targets in developmental initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The 2010 MDG status report says the inability of vulnerable populations to access safe water and basic sanitation has seen frequent diarrhoeal and cholera outbreaks in the country. Results from the 2009 Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey (MIMS) indicate that the proportion of people in rural areas with access to safe drinking water declined from 70 percent in 1999 to 61 percent in 2009.
Furthermore, according to the Department of Infrastructural Development, more than 65 percent of all rural water points are non functional at any given time.
Zimbabwe’s extensive rural sanitation programme has also experienced a sharp decline in quality.
The 2005/2006 Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey revealed that since 1999, 69,5 percent of all rural households had no access to hygienic sanitation facilities.
Online Reporter