EU project brings back water smiles to Gwanda rural communities

Drilling, rehabilitation and repair of boreholes is one thematic area in the EU water facility programme that has brought much needed respite to communities in the selected wards of Gwanda North and South districts who are now able to access clean water again after going for months and some even decades on end relying on unprotected sources.

Ward 17 in Gwanda north is one such where a new borehole in Silabi village has brought  a new lease of life to the community which has waited for 40 years to have this facility which most of us take for granted.  

Moved by this gesture, the community elected a water point management committee and a village pump minder who received training from project implementers Practical Action and Moriti wa Sechaba on how to manage and repair the water point on a daily basis and make sure it remains sustainable to the community.

"For 40 years there was no water here until this EU water facility funded project brought us a new borehole in May 2014. We used to walk together with our cattle, donkeys and goats every day to the next water point 4km away from this village.

"Most of our productive time was spent looking for water and our girls sometimes had to skip school during their time of the month. The little that we could carry from that far was not enough for all household uses except for cooking, let alone washing and bathing. Now it's different because we have water at our doorstep. We are more productive and we even have nutrition gardens." said Elphy Ncube, chairperson of the water point management committee at Sibali village.

The committee manages a fund for the borehole where all households contribute towards operation and maintenance and fencing of the water point, which also provides the precious liquid for livestock through constructed drinking troughs.


"Water is Life" Nutrition gardens used to be history before the borehole was sunk

These management committees are gender balanced, with women forming their core since they are the ones who deal with daily household water issues more than their male counterparts.

The communities are committed and this is shown by their collective community participation especially during fencing, rehabilitation and construction of drinking troughs. Women make sure there is food while men provide the required labour. The general observation made also indicates that although some boreholes broke down a long time ago, their Water Point Committees (WPC) still exists and are responsible for mobilising the communities during rehabilitations.


Well fenced Sibali water point in Gwanda North ward 17

The ACP- EU water project aims to boost the sustainable delivery of water and sanitation infrastructure to those most affected by shortages of water and the absence of sanitation.

Gwanda, which lies in Zimbabwe's Matebeland South region, is one such district out of six where the project is being implemented. It is predominantly dry and receives very little rainfall annually. Due to years of neglect, vandalism coupled with wear and tear, most of the boreholes in targeted wards need a complete overhaul of pipes, rods, pump stands, handles and new head works, i.e. aprons, washing areas and soak ways.