World Vision to start vast water and sanitation
program World Vision Zimbabwe has embarked on a massive water and sanitation
programme that is set to benefit close to 51 800 people in the Mukumbura
area in Mount Darwin, 260 kilometres north of Harare. The budget for the
project is 420,000 Euros.
The programme, which is being funded
by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), will include
the drilling of 22 new boreholes, the rehabilitation and upgrading of 51
existing water points, construction of 10 school toilet blocks and 108
participatory health education workshops conducted over a period of eight
months.
Areas to be covered under the programme include Chigango, Chiswiti, Kaitano, Mukumbura, Kandeya and Matope.
Deputy Director-Relief, Mr Zvidzai Maburutse said the programme was a response by World Vision and its partners to a sitting emergency as a result of prolonged drought in the area.
The clinic has been without safe water since its inception and in some cases villagers are forced to walk a distance of four kilometres to the nearest water point.
Water supplies have been further compromised by the recurrent droughts that have hit the area raising fears of water borne diseases like cholera.
Besides the drilling of new boreholes and rehabilitation of existing ones in the area, World Vision is to embark on participatory hygiene and sanitation education programmes.
Hygiene education greatly improves the impact of water and sanitation interventions, as past experience has shown that providing toilets alone without proper education was yielding little results.
World Vision has assisted some communities in the adjacent areas with safe drinking water since 1985.