Ishmael Mkandla
WOMEN in Nyamandlovu’s Village 4 have appealed for a solar panel to be installed in their area for easy access of portable water as well as for self empowerment projects.
This comes as villagers have for years been relying on electricity powered tanks to pump water. This, villagers say is expensive as they can’t afford to pay for the pre paid cash power.
Speaking to The Zambezi Times Sithembile Dube said:
“Our problem is that we have water but our source of drawing water from the ground uses electricity and we have to buy cash power in order for us to draw water
” At the moment we don’t have money for electricity and this makes it difficult for us to do agriculture related projects. Some of us have to travel long distances to come and get water from the source.”
She added: “We therefore appeal for assistance in form of water tanks, solar panels and pipes so that people get enough water for their nutritional gardens. Some of us who are into chicken farming projects face problems of water challenges. It makes us walk long distances to come and fetch the water.”
Dube further said their projects were struggling due to limited capital to buy the resources needed for start-up.
“We also appeal for help in form of inputs and market identification because we also find it difficult to sell our end products. Our market is very low here in the villages, people do not buy much.”
A village health worker Jerina Moyo said she was worried about the water problems in her area.
” It’s a big challenge because for good hygiene practices you need water at home. It must not be a struggle to get water. Lack of water puts children at risk of diseases like diarrhoea because their mothers would be finding it difficult to get water. At times, she would need water but unable to get it since we use electricity to pump water and money would not be available then,” she said.
Moyo said most people in the village are not working and they cannot afford to pay for electricity.
” If we could get donation of solar panels, jojo tanks for those homesteads that are distant from the source water, this could promote development.
“As a village health worker, I expect each homesteads to have a nutritional garden (small garden for subsistence farming) where they would grow their vegetables, this is however not possible for women in this area because of water that is pumped using electricity. There are no Nutrition gardens in this village and its difficult for me to encourage people to have them as people would question my line of thinking,” she said.
