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Cholera fears linger in rural Lupane
The Standard (Zimbabwe)
September 04, 2011

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/local/31420-cholera-fears-linger-in-rural-lupane.html

Deep in the rural plains of Lupane, in Matebeleland North, Gladys Jubane has no experience of life with access to clean water. Jubane, like many of the people who live here, has for years relied on open water sources and crude pit-latrines.

Fears of water-borne diseases remain a threat and there is little being done to keep this constant threat at bay. The use of open spaces as latrines heightens this health threat. Villagers have failed to build or sink enough pit latrines, or simply neglect to use those that are available. Many of these open latrines are close to the open water sources used by the villagers.

"We have a few boreholes close by, but they have dried up and we have to walk very long distances to safer water points," Jubane says pointing her index finger far into the distance, in the direction where either she walks or sends her sons on donkey-drawn carts to fetch water.

It is these incredibly long distances to various water points that have contributed to poor hygiene among the people. There is often no clean or safe water close by and they overlook the washing of hands.

"We know the dangers that we live with each day," said Gogo Thembekile Ncube, another villager, referring to the lack of clean, safe water and sanitation access.

Lack of access to running water, identified as essential in fighting cholera, is one of the factors cited by the teachers' unions why their members are reluctant to accept rural posting. Sijabuliso Ndlovu, a qualified primary school teacher working in rural Lupane says lack of access to clean water was a constant reminder of the cholera outbreak a few years ago.

"Even us the teachers are having a tough time finding clean water and proper sanitation. We have to be careful with the little water we get and this can mean skipping a bath," Ndlovu said, highlighting the tough choices these professionals have to make because of the scarcity of water.

"I get the water I use from a borehole but it is far from the school. Only now are we getting some NGOs coming in to repair old boreholes and sink new ones," he said.

While borehole water is seen as relatively safe, there are concerns about the possible contamination of this underground resource in areas where there are no proper toilets.

Boiling the drinking water is one of the recommended methods of purification as this kills germs that spread cholera.

While health advisors say Jik can be used to treat drinking water as the bleach also kills bacteria that harbour cholera, rural villagers are not using this method because this is an expense they cannot afford.

Rural populations remain particularly vulnerable as traditional methods of water purification such as boiling the water are rarely practiced because renewable sources of energy are either unattainable or unaffordable. Firewood is expensive and difficult for the villagers to find.

"I have to admit I am one of many who have never bothered about boiling the water I use. It just is something that many people do not do, and if no one you know falls sick, then you see no reason to take that precaution," Ndlovu said.

"It is important for the people in government and other [humanitarian] agencies to know that clean water is the first resource that must be provided to people before everything else," said an official from World Vision working in Lupane.

"If there is no clean water, I don't think anyone can talk about contributing positively to the people's needs and development as we will always have these lingering fears about unclean water killing people," the official said, adding that the building of proper toilets in rural areas was "a vital developmental initiative" that cannot be ignored.

A nurse working in one of the clinics in Lupane said villagers were being informed about cholera and other diseases, such as dysentery and diarrhoea. "It has been difficult for people coming in from outside who are not used to the water as they soon complain about running stomachs but we continue telling the locals that boiling the water will save their lives," the nurse said.

Early this year amid the floods that hit many parts of southern Africa, the Red Cross warned that another cholera outbreak was possible in Zimbabwe because the conditions that had led to the 2008 outbreak such as poor water and sewer infrastructure were still to be fully addressed.

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