People of Group village head Wirima Traditional Authority Gumba in the remote part of Mchinji District have for the first time in their lives gained access to tapped water.
Previously, the lack of potable water forced the villagers to rely on unsafe boreholes and shallow wells, leading to frequent waterborne diseases.
Speaking on Tuesday when Source of Life Children Foundation handed over a solar-powered water system to the village, the organisation’s country representative Innocent Semu said they thought of going to the area because people have never enjoyed portable water for a long time.
“Finding safe water has been a challenge for the people over the past 50 years here and they were forced to get water from wells where they shared the water with animals,
“Today we have brought in safe water to the village where they will be getting the water from the taps which is convenient to them,” said Semu.
Stella Grey of the same village said she used to wake up at 4 am to be first to get to a well, but the wells usually dried up.
“The shallow wells in the village are a source of diseases because they are not well protected and our children used to often get sick. I am happy to see tapped water in our village for the first time,” said Grey.
Commenting on waterborne diseases and the unavailability of safe water, senior disease control and surveillance officer under Gumba Health Centre Allan Banda said there is only one borehole in the area which makes waterborne diseases to rise.
“in this village because of poor water sources, 10 dysentery cases are registered in children under the age of five. We are hopeful the situation will change now,” said Banda.
TA Gumba was all praises of the development in her area.
“I am very happy with the water system in this area and will make sure the people take care of it,” said TA Gumba.
Source of Life Children Foundation is a child-focused Christian Not-for-profit organisation and apart from water and sanitation, it works in the area of climate change, education, women empowerment and permaculture among others.