TWO fundraisers from Coventry visited drought-stricken Mozambique to see how locally raised money for WaterAid is helping schools and communities.
Severn Trent’s technical development manager Nik Mckiernan, and programme manager for energy and renewables team, Rushy Hayer went on the life-changing trip, along with eight other supporters of the campaign.
The duo visited WaterAid projects around the capital, Maputo and the rural Boane district.
Rushy, 36, spent time in a remote village, Tchonissa, with sisters Angelina and Lucia, who are in their 80s and 90s respectively.
They live without access to clean water, surviving only on the water their 84-year-old brother Arnaldo can buy for them.
Nik, 44, said: “In Tchonissa we went to the existing water source which was from a pond in a dried-up riverbed. It was totally disease-ridden and murky with dead worms in it.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was just absolutely horrible. But the good news is that WaterAid’s plans for this village include a solar-powered water pump which will bring fresh clean water here very soon.”
Rushy and Nik also visited three schools. They joined in with hygiene lessons, saw demonstrations, songs and plays about clean water and sanitation. Mavalane Primary School, where the WaterAid project is complete, now has access to safe water, new toilets, and are educated about the importance of hand washing.
The two women also had the opportunity to get involved with the construction of a latrine in the community of ‘Biarro 7 de setembro’.
Nik said: “We helped to build a latrine for Mukondyo and Rosta, an old couple called who live in the village with their 14-year-old grandson.
“They were so excited about the new latrine because, for the first time ever, they no longer have to face the dangers of going to the loo in the open.”
Mozambique has a 27 million population. Diseases such as cholera and typhoid are rife throughout the country due to contaminated drinking water sources and poor sanitation.
WaterAid estimates that only 20% of the population has adequate sanitation, and 13 million are without clean water; 4,000 children under five die every year in the country, as a result.
2016 has seen particular hardship for many families due to the exceptionally severe drought. Many rural communities are surviving on a diet of boiled leaves called ‘cacana’. Water sources are drying up, and those that exist are stagnant, or salty and undrinkable.
Find out more at www.wateraid.org.
