NGO saves school from water blues Left Lisa Churchfield,Cherrod Pate and Innocent Hadebe

Danisa Masuku, Online Reporter

WHEN the Lot Water Project sunk a borehole at Inzwananzi Primary School in March in Bulawayo it, was simply a part of fulfilling the organisation’s objectives of availing water to every community.

However, it was a blessing in disguise as the school’s water supplies had been disconnected by the Bulawayo City Council after accumulating a bill of  ZWL $2 million.

Last term, the school was forced to ask pupils to bring water in two litre containers while limiting the use of toilets.

With more than 870 pupils at the school a disaster was looming before the Lot Water Project drilled a solar powered borehole at the school enabling them to alleviate the crisis.

Speaking at the commissioning of another borehole which was sunk by Lot Water Project at Ugandan Martyrs Roman Catholic Church, Inzwananzi Primary School Deputy Head mistress Mrs Esther Mutambirwa said: “As a school we were facing a serious water challenge after the BCC disconnected water after we failed to pay the sky rocketing bill which amounted to $2million. As a stopgap measure will would ask pupils to bring water in two litre containers but the problem was not solved but was only mitigated.”

Mrs Mutambirwa said the school will engage in agriculture to raise money to pay the $2 million water bill owed to the local authority.

“We have started engaging in agriculture at the school, we are farming tomatoes and vegetables so as to sell the products to the community and raise money to settle the bill. As a school we have tried our level best to pay the bill but we have come short because the amount is so huge and prior to engaging in horticulture we had no source of income,” she said.

The commissioning was attended by United States based Lot Water Project founder, Luveve-born Innocent Hadebe, who is based in the United States, his partners from America, Lisa Churchfield and Cherrod Pate, Luveve legislator Stella Ndlovu and Luveve residents.

The Lot Water Project has drilled six boreholes in Luveve, Gwabalanda and Cowdray Park since it started working in 2020.The Lot Water Project founder said they are closely following the water challenges facing the city and they are eager to offer a helping hand in alleviating the challenges and help residents to cope. The boreholes are accessible to members of the community.

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