The basic water ,health and sanitation of the Nyanga community is set to significantly improve following the handover of materials to rehabilitate and build water and sanitation facilities under the USAID ’s Community Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Natural Resources Management (C-WASH) project being impemented by DAPP Zimbabwe.
Officially handing over the equipment worth 40 thousand dollars the Provincial Water and Sanitation Sub-Committee Chairperson for Manicaland Robert Chawatama said the materials will construct or rehabilitate 83 boreholes, 45 pumps to extract water, 105 drinking troughs for animals, and 102 latrines.
At the same event a total of 18 community latrine and water pan builders and 16 village pump mechanics,who had been trained by Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Zimbabwe graduated. With guidance from the District Development Fund, these builders and mechanics will assist the communities in constructing and repairing their water infrastructure and ensure long-term sustainability.
USAID Zimbabwe Acting Mission Director Bruce Abrams said “With this newly acquired technical expertise and building materials, these communities are now able to protect themselves against water-borne diseases.”
USAID’s C-WASH activities will provide safe and clean water to 2,400 households and six schools in the district (Sanhani Primary, Mbiriyadi Primary, Chapataronga Primary, Kazozo Primary, Chimusasa Primary, and Fombe Secondary Schools).
The communities of Nyanga North have long grappled with access to safe and clean water due to frequent breakdowns of boreholes. Some families travel for 10 kilometers to access safe water while others sleep queuing for water at the boreholes.
C-WASH is a two-year, $1.5 million activity launched in 2015 and funded by USAID. It seeks to address the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and natural resource management challenges in targeted rural areas of Zimbabwe. DAPP Zimbabwe and Zim-AHEAD will jointly implement C-WASH, which targets four districts in Zimbabwe: Chimanimani, Mutasa, Chipinge, and Nyanga.