NGO rescues Kezi school from water crisis

By Thubelihle Dube

A Non-Governmental Organisation has donated a borehole to a school in Kezi that had no access to water on its premises since its construction in 1932. Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF), also known as Sizimele built the borehole for Manyane Primary school after taking note of the plight of both teachers and students in their onerous efforts to access water for use at the school.

Since its construction in 1932, the school has been relying on a community borehole for the precious liquid. Students and staff had to take the long and painstaking walk to the community borehole which is situated two kilometres away in order to access water.

“Sizimele’s intervention presents a huge breakthrough and relief for the school. The donated borehole was  drilled right at the centre of the school where nobody expected to find water, thereby busting the myth that the school is located on a terrain without a water shed”, said a teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another teacher,  Miss Chipo Senda hailed the development while asserting that it will help improve the school’s hygienic conditions. She also added that infrastructure development on the school would be made easier by the availability of water.

“The borehole will promote and inculcate cleanliness and proper hygiene in our learners and staff. Development of infrastructure has been made easier by the presence of the borehole,” she said.

The School Development Association Chairperson Mr Butholweze Ncube expressed profuse gratitude to Zimele for coming up with such a timely, big intervention to ameliorate the water crisis in the school.

“We are very grateful to Zimele for such a timely and kind gesture. The drilling of the borehole at our school came at the right time. It is a big boost for our projects such as the garden, orchard, broiler rearing and fish breeding. These projects can now be realised because we now have water readily available,” he said.

Ncube added that hopes are high that the proceeds from the school’s agricultural projects will go a long in assisting the school sustain and upgrade itself by purchasing state of the art equipment. 

“In times of drought, water was fetched from a dam which is infested with snails, exposing teachers, learners and the community from water borne diseases. As a community, we are in a jubilant mood as there is no more need for our learners to walk the long distance just to access water. Now they can concentrate on their school work without having to worry about water. They used to lose a lot of learning time but now that is a thing of the past, thanks to the donors. Major school developmental projects which were hindered by lack of water, can now commence, said, said Maria Ndlovu, a parent.”