USAid’s solar-powered boreholes transforming lives in Chiredzi

RUVIMBO MUCHENJE

IT is 2pm on a hot afternoon in Thathaisa Ramadhaka village, a dry region in Chiredzi South, about 433 kilometres south-east of Harare.

Seeking shelter from the 35-degree Celsius heat, Maria Chauke (47) and her fellow villagers gather for a community meeting under the shade of three 10,000-litre water tanks and nearby trees.

Chauke, like many others in her community, has seen her life transformed by the installation of a solar-powered borehole funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) through the Mwenezi Development Training Centre |(MDTC).

This initiative, part of a larger effort supported by USAid to improve access to clean water in rural areas in Zimbabwe, has alleviated a daily struggle for Chauke and her family.

As soon as the meeting concludes, Chauke eagerly heads towards an eight-tap water point, with younger villagers racing ahead.

The water point is one of many established by MDTC in the region. Chauke no longer has to endure long, early morning walks in darkness to fetch water from distant, unsafe wells.  

“I’m thankful for the water provision because before this initiative we used to fetch water from afar, and from unprotected wells where we would find dead snakes, donkeys, and other rubbish,” she told The NewsHawks.

Chauke recalls travelling with other women five kilometres to Ndaeja Mountain to do laundry in seasonal rainwater ponds. Their husbands would accompany them for their protection during these journeys.

“It was not easy for a woman to travel alone far in search of water. Our husbands would accompany us to provide protection,” she said.

“Worse, in some instances children would fall in deep wells, but now, these are things of the past. They are behind us.

“With piped water readily available, we can mould bricks, build houses, and do lots of meaningful development. Our children didn’t know about tap water, but now, we have it,” Chauke added.

At the newly installed water points, laundry basins and washing lines have been set up, making it much easier for women to wash clothes.

The NewsHawks caught up with 25-year-old Miye Ncube, one of the builders who helped make this possible. She was excited to contribute to her community’s progress.

“When MDTC came with their plan to build latrines, washing basins, water points and livestock drinking troughs, I quickly joined along with other youth to showcase my building skills,” Ncube said.

“I knew this would change lives, especially for women who had to walk long distances for water.”

Village head Zacheu Sithole expressed appreciation for the project, which he said also improved the lives of schoolchildren.

“Now that water is close by, children bathe on time and don’t have to wait for their mothers to travel three kilometres to fetch water,” Sithole said.

“They’re going to school on time, and it’s making a big difference.”

This solar-powered borehole serves 54 households within a three-kilometre radius. It is one of 12 such boreholes installed in the district. Of these, eight are solar-powered, while four have been rehabilitated for manual water pumping.

The project has benefitted more than 7,000 people in four of the 32 wards in Chiredzi rural, whose population is more than 300 000.

The impact is not only to humans, but also livestock.

Sithole notes that local cattle have become healthier. In addition, cases of water-borne diarrhoeal diseases have gone down.

“Our cattle haven’t been falling sick as often, and they’re reproducing more because of the abundance of water,” he said.

 “Even our chickens, goats, and donkeys are healthier now that water is readily available.

The solar-powered boreholes have also alleviated some of the challenges posed by the El Niño-induced drought, which devastated grazing land for livestock.

MDTC reports that over 3,000 livestock have benefited from these water points, providing a crucial lifeline in this arid region.

As Chiredzi South continues to grapple with the challenges of climate change and rural poverty, USAid’s investment in clean, reliable water sources is offering hope to communities like Chauke’s. Thanks to these initiatives, the search for water no longer defines the villagers’ daily lives

Chiredzi, already known for its dry conditions, faced even greater challenges during the El Niño-induced drought of the 2023-2024 farming season.

Wells dries up much earlier than usual, worsening the water crisis in a district where the majority of people rely on open water sources such as wells, rivers, rainwater, and dams.

The Masvingo Province 2020 ZimVAC Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report states that 28% of Chiredzi’s population uses open-source water, followed by Mwenezi at 17% and Zaka at 12%.  

The organisation has implemented a build, operate, and transfer (BOT) policy, which ensures that even after the project’s completion, the infrastructure will remain functional under government supervision.

MDTC Chiredzi district coordinator Chris Lambika said: “These water points that are being powered by solar in the four wards, two per each ward, are functioning very well.

“It is quite interesting to note that the project is coming to an end today (17 September 2024), and we have ensured that the government stakeholders will continue to make sure that those assets continue to function,” he told The NewsHawks.

This article was done in collaboration with Media Monitors Zimbabwe.