Zimnyama villagers walk for several kilometers to get water

By Habakkuk Trust Information Department

321 villagers convened at Zimnyama centre to attend a community meeting organized by Ward 2 Habakkuk Trust Area Action Team to solicit for community views and consensus on the key advocacy issues raised during an advocacy training workshop conducted by Habakkuk Trust two months back.

The elderly, the young, men and women alike braved the scorching heat of the natural region 5 weather to discuss issues concerning access to water and access medical care in the ward.
A unanimous decision was reached that access to water is the most critical issue in the ward as the area generally receives very low and erratic rainfall patterns, and there are few boreholes.

Though the clinic was one of the issues raised during the training workshop, community members concurred that access to water is the major issue as currently people are forced to travel upto 7km daily in search of water.

Testimonies from community members
Mrs. Ester Ndebele 71 years old from Vaka Village
The water situation is bad for us the old women because we do not have anyone to assist us fetch water from afar and we end up skipping meals because of lack of cooking and drinking water.

Mr. Robert Mahamba Ndlovu 44 years old from Mapulula 2 Village
Most of the boreholes in the village are malfunctioning and the only dam we have dried up sometime back. If the dam could be resurfaced and the boreholes repaired and sunk deeper it will save us a lot.

Miss Salome Ncube 26 years old from Sosombane Village
The situation is so hard that in some areas we are risking our lives trying to get water. The wells are now so deep that at anytime the sand call curve in and kill people drawing water. In pother areas we now use ladders to go down and access water.

Ms. Mavis Moyo 36 years old from Mapulula 2
We now get water from a neighboring ward and in the water points people end up fighting and this creates a lot of conflicts in the communities.

Mrs. Thokozile Songo 47 years old from Mapulula 1 Village
After children dismiss from school they are forced to travel long distances to get water and this affects their learning and studying times.
Even those that want to have projects, the projects can only run for 3 to 4 months during the rainy season after that they have to fold down.

There are 11 wells at Mapulula 1 village and of those 11 only 6 are functioning though they break down often, servicing about 140 homesteads

Mrs. Crista Ndlovu from Osabeni Village
In our village we get drinking water from the dam, sharing it with animals. The situation is so bad that we now reuse water especially bathing water is used twice.

Mr. Mayisa - Village Head
There is a pipe that runs from Mthunduluka dam to Vaka and Sosombane schools. That pipe needs to be repaired and the dam resurfaced. There are tanks in the communities that have the capacity to hold lots of water.