Recent audio and video clips circulated by CITE on social media featuring a Makutula village in Tjefunye, Tsholotsho District, appealing for assistance in the drilling of a borehole to alleviate water woes in the area, have finally yielded fruit.
CITE in late May and June circulated on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp audio and video clips in which village head, Obert Muda, highlighted the dire water situation in the area appealing for well-wishers to come to their rescue.
Listen to the village head speak: https://twitter.com/zenzele/status/1264631219712602112
Watch the video of water situation in Makutula
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3074678972610102&id=1758802921017821
The villagers have now secured a donor, Drill4Life, which began drilling the much-awaited borehole Thursday morning.
Speaking to CITE, one of the people involved until the culmination of the project, South African based Thembelani Ndebele, born in Tjefunye, paid tribute to CITE.
“I found Zenzele Ndebele (CITE executive director) on Facebook and told him about water problems faced by my people in Tjefunye,” said Ndebele.
“Zenzele then went to the place and took some videos which were widely circulated on social media highlighting the dire water situation in the area.”
The videos then caught the attention of another South African based Zimbabwean, Mhlawempi Ndlovu, who hails from Beula in Matobo district, who then linked Ndebele with the borehole drilling company, Drill4Life.
Drill4Life is a charitable organisation whose sole focus is providing freshwater resources for drinking and sanitation for the people living in rural Zimbabwe.
“I saw a video circulating on social media done by Zenzele, and I was so touched,” Ndlovu told CITE.
“Then it came to my mind that there are donors l know although they are not based in Zimbabwe. I sent an email to them and attached the video requesting their help. They told me all the requirements they needed for the application to be approved.”
Ndlovu explained further: “It wasn’t easy for me to get all requirements because l am not from ward 19 Tsholotsho and l have never been there. I was forced by the situation to look for Zenzele so that he could assist me with the contacts of the right person. He gave me one contact of Ndebele (Thembelani) who is based in SA. We worked together with Ndebele until we got one lady who was on the ground and she assisted us with all the whole information we needed.”
Ndlovu who also paid tribute to the area councillor for joining hands with them said despite the challenges at the end they won.
“As we speak today the drilling company started the process and they have already gone at least 90 metres deep,” he said.
The borehole, situated next to Makutula Primary School is set to benefit 52 households, teachers and pupils at the learning institution.
“The water situation had become dire with villagers walking over 5km to get it from Manzamnyama River,” said Ndebele.
He said efforts to have a dam along the Tjefunye stream as the lasting solution to the area’s perennial water challenges had not so far yielded results.
Speaking to CITE over phone from the drilling site one of the villagers who identified herself as NakaNtombi, could not contain her joy.
“We are so happy, our darker days are over,” she said.
“We are now in light. We request that you do even more than this for us. Today we have cancelled pushing wheelbarrows to the river.”
