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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
VILLAGERS from Sifanjani Village, Ward 13 in Gwanda can now breathe a sigh of relief as water supply has improved after they had a sand dam constructed and rower pump installed with the assistance of Dabane Trust and Excellent Development.

Before the project was introduced, community members had to dig for a depth of up to three metres along Sengezane River in order to reach water. They submitted a proposal to Dabane Trust requesting to be assisted with a sand dam which would assist them with water to drink and for their livestock.

Ever since the project was introduced last year the water table has improved and villagers have to dig slightly in order to reach water.

Mrs Varesi Moyo, who is the chairperson of the rower pump project, said they could now access clean water to drink.

She said the rower pump was installed in September last year.

“We had a great problem when it came to accessing water to drink and water for our livestock. We had to dig along Sengezane River for a depth of over three metres in order to reach water. After digging livestock would drink from those same wells that we would have dug up and in the process bury them and we would have to dig again from scratch. Sometimes our animals would fall into these wells while desperately searching for water and we would lose them.

“Now that we have a rower pump the situation is much better as we can collect water easily and we now have access to clean water. We can also bring our livestock to the rower pump to drink water. We were assisted by Dabane Trust and Excellent Development who provided us with the necessary material and we provided labour,” she said.

Mrs Moyo said under the project a cylinder was installed about 1,7 metres down Sengezane River which draws water from the river to the rower pump. She said the rower pump system was easy to manage, operate and repair whenever it experienced breakdowns.

Mr Headman Maphosa who is the committee secretary for the sand dam project said the community had always desired to have a sand dam as their area is rocky and dry. He said they started constructing the dam in May last year.

He said the dam was assisting to trap sand which in turn trapped water.

Mr Maphosa said since the last rain season people could now access water after digging slightly. He said the sand dam had also helped create small puddles of water along the river where livestock could drink. He said villagers had also created small gardens near the sand dam which they watered using water they preserved from the sand dam.

“We now have Natha Sand Dam in our village thanks to Dabane Trust and Excellent Organisation. We sent an application to Dabane Trust asking them to help us construct a sand dam and project started in May last year. The organisation has been assisting us with building material while we have been providing labour. For now, we have constructed a wall across Sengezane River. We constructed a foundation which is about five metres deep and the height of the wall from the surface is also about five metres long.

“All along when we were receiving rains the water was just flowing by and by the time we reached the next rain season we were struggling to get water. With the sand dam the wall that we constructed will help to trap water within the sand so that even when it’s way past the rain season we will still be having water close to the surface of the river and by slightly digging up the sand we can reach it,” he said.

Mr Maphosa said they hoped that as years passed more water will be preserved by the sand dam. He said the condition of their livestock had this year improved as a result of the project.

The councillor of Ward 13 Miclas Ndlovu said the rower pump and sand dam projects had gone a long way in easing water challenges.

He said they planned to establish an irrigation plot, herbal and nutrition garden now that they had a sand dam which had improved water supply. He said there was need for more sand dams to be established in order to ensure food security within communities.

“Water is life and it’s the source of many projects. This project has presented our community with an opportunity to have a number of livelihood projects. This project is playing a crucial role especially now that we are faced with the Covid-19 pandemic which requires people to wash their hands regularly. In the long run we wish to establish an irrigation plot for the entire community, a herbal and nutrition garden. We want to establish a green belt along this river which will ensure food security in our area. If more sand dams could be constructed in our area, we will see a huge difference and people’s lives will improve in a great way,” he said.

Dabane Trust projects officer, Mr Bernard Mpofu said they sought to promote access to clean water through installation of simple low hand pumps. He said the rower pump was easy to maintain as the spare parts were affordable.

He said under the project the water was being pumped from underground from a distance of 1,7 metres which meant that bacteria could not survive up to that depth. He said this was in the line with the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards on water quality monitoring.

Mr Mpofu said the sand dam helped to reduce flow of underground water. He said the water table in the area had now improved.

“In most areas around Gwanda people rely on sand water but there comes a time when the river dries up. In order to preserve the water that will be flowing underneath the sand there is a need for a sand dam but firstly there is need to access the kind of sand in that particular river in order to determine its porosity and whether it can collect water over a long period of time. We try by all means to avoid silt as it doesn’t hold water,” he said.

Mr Mpofu said Dabane Trust was the implementing partner while Excellent Development was the funder. — @DubeMatutu