Waking up before sunrise and facing a nightmare of access to water was the order of the day for Phylis Mapurisa (62).
She hails from Gokwe- Nembudziya located in the northern part of the Midlands province , north-western Zimbabwe.
She would spend the better half of her day trying to fetch water for her family.
According to Mapurisa, herself and other village women used to walk at least nine kilometers to get water from unprotected sources .
“Together with my colleagues, we used to walk nine kilometers to fetch water to enable us to cook and wash for our families, it was really a difficult situation,” said Mapurisa.
Gokwe is a dry area with an erratic rainfall pattern and scarcity of water is the main challenge they face.
“We do not receive rain here and this always causes problems for us the people and our animals,” added Mapurisa.
There has been an oasis of hope and this nightmarish experience has changed after the intervention by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) which provided funding to construct a dam (Vimbe Dam) in the area.
The dam is now benefiting this area and its surrounds.
“I want to thank CAFOD for building this dam for us, having this dam is a dream come true to our community especially we as ladies, we no longer walk long distances to fetch water,” said Mapurisa.
CAFOD has also introduced a solar-powered irrigation scheme to assist people in Gokwe to grow crops and vegetables, a move which was applauded by Mapurisa and other villagers.
“This irrigation project is so beneficial to us the people of Gokwe, we are now able to farm vegetables, fruits among other crops to sell and for our own consumption, back then we used to rely more on mufushwa (dried vegetables) but now we are enjoying fresh vegetables,” said Mapurisa.
Mapurisa added that the project has given an opportunity to raise money to pay for school fees for their kids.
“This is an income-generating project, I can now afford to pay fees for my kids and sometimes I am left with some few dollars for personal savings,” added Mapurisa.
Vimbe dam is now assisting areas like Nyamuwororo, Gumunyu , Chota, Chodha and Nembudziya Centre.
