Funds
received during 2006 fundraising efforts will be used
to implement a 9-month Integrated Community Water
and Sanitation project to 2,000 beneficiaries in one
rural ward of Gokwe South district in Zimbabwe. The
goal of the project is to rehabilitate broken down
water points in the targeted ward while ensuring maintenance
of all the boreholes. An additional goal is to improve
the sanitary conditions through increasing toilets
in the target wards.
Significant
amount of work on development of rural water and sanitation
has been done by the Government of Zimbabwe through
the Ministry of Water in collaboration with Non-Governmental
Organizations during the first two decades after independence;
however, a lot still needs to be done in this sector
in order to consolidate the gains that have been made.
In the recent past, budget allocations for the water
and sanitation sector have been dwindling because
of poor performance of the national economy.
High
morbidity and mortality rates among children under
five in Zimbabwe in general and Gokwe South in particular
are primarily due to water-borne diseases such as
gastroenteritis, diarrhea, malaria, amoebic dysentery,
bilharzia and cholera (personal communication) . Unsanitary
human waste disposal is a major cause of water related
diseases. In Gokwe South, the larger percentage of
the population (51%) discreetly deposits their excreta
in the bush and children tend to defecate anywhere.
Human feces are often highly contaminated by disease
agents, which are then transmitted to the community
by runoff and flies. The disposed excreta flows into
the unsafe drinking water points (unprotected water
points including streams). To exacerbate the problem,
the community only sought health care when it is absolutely
necessary and by then the disease will have reached
its final stage. The delay in obtaining the health
care is mainly due to either economic hardships or
lack of public transport.
The
overall goal of the project is to improve healthy
living conditions, for 2,000 beneficiaries in one
rural ward of Gokwe South district through provision
of clean water, household nutrition gardens, sanitation
facilities and hygiene education.
The
proposed project will achieve the following objectives:
