Youths respond to water crisis with entrepreneurial spirit

Kelvin Kutinyo

Desperate to wriggle out of the biting economic climate and marauding poverty, youths in Bulawayo have resorted to capitalizing on the water scarcity by venturing into water business.

Youths in Barboufields suburbs and Ntabazinduna flats have quickly taken advantage of the 120 hour water rationing system by searching for water using the traditional hand cart. Their charges depend on the number of buckets and demand.

In an exclusive interview, Tinashe Umutu, one of the youths shared some details about their initiative, revealing the prices for their services and applauding how these responsibilities keep them productively engaged.

“We charge US $1 for three buckets, and then five rand for a single bucket, demand is high especially from Monday to Thursday when water is closed. The handcart we use to transport buckets, we usually hire it locally for only one dollar”.

“The support we get from families around is amazing and it has kept us busy as youths, distancing us away from bad activities that happen among youths like drug abuse and peer pressure”, said Umutu.

The city faces one of its most severe dry spell accelerated by the El Nino induced drought that has left families vulnerable as water woes continue to escalate with the rapid increase in demand of the precious liquid.

The brave youths travel long distances in search of water. Mostly water is found at Mpilo hospital, national railways workshop, mzilikazi youth centre and Makokoba’s solar powered boreholes.

He also highlighted the daunting challenges they face when seeking access to water, particularly when requesting from community leaders based in locations with solar powered boreholes.

“In some communities like makokoba, it’s difficult to access water from their boreholes because they say these boreholes are meant to benefit their community only since they contribute their money for repair and fencing”.

“At Mpilo hospital it’s easy to get water from people who stay inside the hospital houses but it’s very difficult to pass through the security guard at the main gate as they always ask us to empty our buckets by watering nearby flowers returning back with empty buckets”, Umutu explained.

Ward 2 Councilor Adrian Rendani Moyo praised local youths for their innovative approach to tackling unemployment, by transforming challenges into opportunities and showcasing their resourcefulness and determination to create a better future.

“Youths are known for innovation. In this era characterised by unemployment, I want to commend these young people for coming up with responsive solutions to today’s challenges and at the same time it has provided a source of income for them”, said cllr Moyo.

The water crisis is also exacerbated by aging infrastructure, vandalism of equipment, illegal gold mining and the continous expansion of the city among other issues.