Day two - 14th February 2012

It was an early 4am start and a three hour journey in 4x4s along rural roads and through rivers to get to Haboombe village, one of the remotest in the Monze region.
 
Before we caught sight of the village we heard the music and singing which did not stop for another half hour or so.

Our welcome to the village

After being welcomed to the village by the elder it was explained that there are 28 houses and 283 residents in the village, an average of 10 per household. That may not sound too bad but when you consider that most homes are approximately 12ft by 8ft (or something like that), that's a huge number.
 

Homes have thatched roofs, clay walls and no windows. The orangy red dust from the open areas in the village gets everywhere and stains everything.

Kevin Buck (Southern Water's supporter) and I went and spent the day with one family. Friday, the husband (25-years-old), his wife Mary, 22 and their one-year-old baby Elifet.

Friday and Mary outside their home

We learnt from them how difficult their life is without clean water and sanitation, how in the dry season they get up at 4am to start the three hour walk to the nearest river (the one we drive through in the 4x4s) to collect water before walking  three hours back again. On that return journey they are both carrying a 25 litre container each! 

The water they collect is reddy/orange in colour and full of things you really don't want to know about (but I'll tell you anyway) such as animal and human faeces and insects, they also use the river to wash their clothes and themselves and animals use it to drink from and clean too.

 

 

Could you imagine using this river water? Well, this family has no choice

That water is used for drinking, cooking as well as washing their clothes and themselves. I can't imagine us in England tolerating that!

Regarding sanitation, they've got no where else to do their business apart from behind a bush.

Friday also spoke about illnesses in the village such as eyesight problems and regular severe bouts of diorreoha, sometimes those bouts can last up to a month. Many die prematurely because of the lack of clean, safe water and sanitation.

Would you live like this? No you would find it wholly unacceptable and they agree.

At the moment the villagers only grow enough crops to sustain themselves, however, they do grow a small amount of cotton wich they sell for a very small amount of money. If the village was given access to safe water, sanitation ANC hygiene education it would not only improve their health and life expectancy drastically, but give them more time to grow more crops to sell.

The villagers are keen for WaterAid's help and that help will begin in April 2012 with hygiene education.

I will again update you on my experiences tomorrow.

If you want to find out more about WaterAid log onto. www.wateraid.org.uk