murombedzi Hospital

A stone throw away from Mhondoro Rural Hospital which was recently commissioned by President E.D Mnangagwa lays Chiweshe Village which has perennial water problems.

“32 households which add up to 200 people in Chiweshe village relies on the open water source for household consumption, including drinking”, said a health official at Murombedzi Rural Hospital who denied to be identified by name for fear of reprisals.

The Health official went on to say that, “about 50 people who lives in Chinengundu village just adjacent to Chiweshe village also depends on the open source of water for domestic use”.

In Chiweshe village, only 8 households have protected wells, but these wells also dry up and the owners will resort to the open source of water.

There is no single public borehole in the village, the water table is very low and many boreholes sunk could not yield water, known as dry holes.

“There is nothing we can do as Health Institution to treat the water since the source is open and unprotected, but we sometimes give them water pills to treat water at household level”, the health official said.

Memory Chitsine, who resides in Chiweshe Village said that, “we fetch our water in this open well and we used to boil some for drinking, but we are no longer doing that but just drink it as it is due to pressing livelihood chores to perform”.

The Hospital has never experienced any cholera outbreak from Chiweshe Village, but isolated incidents of water borne diseases.

“If there are machines that can go several miles down the soil in search of oil as experienced in Muzarabani, surely there can be a way to drill boreholes which can provide safe water for drinking”, said Ephraim Chombiti who dwells in Chiweshe Village.

If someone decides to poison this open well, the whole village will be buried as this is the only source of water, said Nyasha Marimbe who was fetching water.

There has been an outbreak of cholera as of late in Zimbabwe, measures should be made to safeguard the health being of communities through provision of safe and clean water to drink.