Transforming Lives in Zimbabwe Through Our ‘Free Water for All’ Campaign

By Bruce Kanengoni and Jean Worth

The biggest challenge that people have faced in Zimbabwe so far this year has been the crippling drought. To people who have so little, drought can drain hope and optimism and make their struggles seem never-ending. Mothers worry about how they will feed their families. Fathers worry about how to make enough money to pay school fees, while children lose some of their spark as hunger takes a grip on their lives. In addition to facing daily hunger pangs, many people have inadequate housing and clothing. As intractable as some of these challenges might seem, however, our Movement of Life project in Zimbabwe is already beginning to make a difference.

A population with less resilience would have given up by now, but Zimbabweans are determined and always ready to work hard, no matter what life throws at them. Their innate optimism, even when facing multiple challenges, can move mountains. When offered viable solutions they will always do whatever is necessary to implement them.

Of all our current activities in Zimbabwe, the drilling of two new water boreholes in Harare, the capital of the country, has the greatest potential to transform people’s lives. Jointly paid for by the Dr. Rath Health Foundation and local schools, the provision of these sources of water will literally be lifesaving. The students and community members who are benefitting from them recognize this and are highly motivated to make the most out of their access to them. Now, instead of their vegetable gardens shriveling up and dying, they will flourish and provide an abundance of vitamin-rich food for harvesting.

Image: Dr. Rath Health Foundation

In the area where the first borehole was drilled, community members have established several new vegetable gardens which are already doing well. The enthusiasm for growing food is spreading, with more and more people wanting to take part. The older members of the community have rounded up many of the disengaged youth, who were previously depressed and demotivated with life, and got them involved in growing food. This has given them a purpose in life. Their enthusiasm was visible as they harvested their first crops.

The drilling of these two new boreholes reflects the principles behind the Movement of Life’s Free Water for All campaign, which promote free access to water as a basic human right. Without access to sufficient water, achieving the goals of our other campaigns, such as Free Health for All and Free Food for All, would not be possible in Zimbabwe.

Having experienced the life-changing effects of a guaranteed supply of water, the students and community members benefitting from the new boreholes are beginning to face the future with confidence. Like their counterparts in other countries where the Movement of Life has set up projects, they have learned that through growing an abundance of vitamin-rich food to feed themselves and their families, ‘Health for All’ becomes possible.