Constance walks three kilometres to collect water for her daily needs. On top of this, she collects extra water to make bricks. Constance is building a toilet; but it is taking a very long time to finish.
Constance lives in rural Zimbabwe. The water that she collects each day “is not healthy at all,” Constance said. “Sometimes you find other people doing laundry there. It is an open water source, and sometimes you just have to fetch that water and boil it. Sometimes I try and sieve it or, get some sort of way of trying to filter it.”
Having a toilet is a necessity. It takes a lot of water to make concrete and bricks. Not having a close water source became a big challenge for her.
Making the bricks would take hours of demanding work. This gruelling work would be on top of already needing to collect water from the river for her daily use. “You have to access water for not just your household, but also an additional approximate 400 litres (or two drums) of water to mould bricks.” Ntando, the Field Officer from Showers of Blessing said.
To build, Constance would need extra hands to help. Like someone to push a cart or wheelbarrow to carry the buckets of water. But people in her village are already burdened with the task of collecting water for their own needs.
When Constance found out that Showers of Blessing was going to install a borehole in her village, she was very excited.
Constance is now a less than a minute walk from where the borehole is. “I can actually keep an eye on it from where I’m staying.” Constance is pleased. “I’m very happy that water was found in a place that is nearby.”
Now, with the borehole close to her home, Constance not only has clean safe water for daily use but can finally finish making her toilet. One that is accessible for her family as well as for those who are coming to fetch water from the borehole. “It will be open and accessible to everyone to use it,” she explained. Her sons will help her to carry the water from the borehole and make the bricks.
Constance is very thankful for your support through Safe Water September. “I would like to thank very much those who gave us the funds to be able to drill the borehole and make it accessible to the community,” she said.
Showers of Blessing Trust's (OSBT) project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).