Levels of poverty are on the increase in Malawi. The same cannot be said for access to affordable clean water for majority of its rural poor citizens – Owen Nyaka writes.
Tonse village (pseudo name) is one of the thousands typical villages that dominate Malawi. Nested beneath a range of attractive hills about 20 kilometres by dirt road most small holder farmers in this village did not access the affordable farm input programme (AIP).
And due to consistent shrinking of global prices in some of the strategic agri-commodities such as fertiliser, the markets at the domestic levels also experience a decline of prices to a point that farmers make losses thereby aggravating their already impoverish status.
What is taking shape in most villages across Malawi is famine, disastrous collaboration between nature and man since majority didn’t benefitted from the affordable fertiliser in the previous farming growing season.
“Please forgive my rumblings,” said an old man, as he sat on wooden stool in front of his mud hut. “The hunger makes my mind wander.”
In his lucid moments, this old man recites the numbers, calibrating his catastrophe. Three days since he’s eaten. Thirty-one tiny cobs of unripe corn. Grandchildren to feed, two seasons of crops spoiled by weather–cyclone one year, drought the next plus lack of fertiliser.
“I have never seen such starvation,” says an old man who believes he is close to 85 years. “I had no choice but to harvest the crops before they were ready. This,” he said, nodding to basket of shrivelled corn,” is all what keeps us from death”.
In spite of starving villagers at Thundu, which is in the jurisdiction of chief Kasakula in Ntchisi district for instance their only commodity that ties and bind them together is clean piped water.
WaterAid Program Officer, Laston Zungu says at Thundu village they have artisan well (kasupe) which WaterAid in Malawi with funding from the United Kingdom-Wimbledon Foundation installed water pumps and water tanks for a distance of one (1) kilometre.
Zungu told journalists during the recent media tour that from this water source they have 30,000 litres of water tanks of which 10,000 litres tank serves 142 households at Thundu community which is an estimate of 700 thousand people benefitting and 20,000 litres tanks serves Kangolwa Health Care Facility (HCF) whose catchment population is 22,933 people in Chiefs Kasakula and Chikho excluding people who comes from neighbouring Chiefs Mwadzama and Mwansambo areas in Nkhotakota district.
Kangolwa Facility Incharge, Arkangelo Kamkulukuta confirmed the development saying when Malawi was devastated with cholera outbreak, the facility didn’t register any case.
He said the health promoters in the area are teaching patients and the communities’ good hygiene practices. And that communities surroundings the facility grasps so well and they are implementing in their respective homes.
Kamkulukuta says in additional, people walks very long distances for example 20 kilometres one-way and once they arrived at the facility they are encouraged to use the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene facilities (WASH).
“For patients and guardians they use hand washing facility at the gate of the hospital upon their arrival. When they get medication they are encouraged to take it right at the hospital using the facility taps,” says Kamkulukuta.
Around 11 million people each year die because of sepsis. This accounts for 20 percent of all global deaths. But these deaths are preventable. Improved water, sanitation and hygiene and infection prevention and control measures could halve the number of health care associated sepsis cases.
As one of the journalist that attend the media tour, on 3rd July, this year I spent an hour seated at the main entrance of the district hospital from 7:30 up to 8:30am to observe if people are using the hand washing sinks. Sadly nobody use it be it patients, guardians or staff. But when the media team dressed in WASH t-shirts, hats and cloths officially arrived at the district hospital facility people flocked to the hand washing facility just to be captured.
Moving 54 kilometres from Ntchisi boma, the next day same observation was made at Kangolwa HCF and nearly every patients and guardians use the hand washing sink. There is more hand washing activities taking place amongst the remote rural communities surrounding the HCF’s unlike patient’s and guardians that utilize services at the district hospital.
Assistant Environmental Health Officer (AEHO) in Ntchisi, Esther Banda admit the observation saying after they also noticing the gap, they intensify trainings in which about 105 and 80 Hygiene promoters were trained across the HCF’s where Water Aid in Malawi is supporting.
She said among the participants were security guards and ground labours who are front workers of the facilities in order to revamp and prevent the controllable waterborne diseases.
Going back to Thundu village where poverty levels and water tariffs hike almost shuttle their dreams of accessing clean water and thanks to WaterAid in Malawi in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 6 as well as Malawi 2063-MIP1 which seeks to ensure access to Water and sanitation for all by 2030 and in this modern days of the year 2023 the 10,000 litres tank have started trickling into the taps of the poor, “doh” at the Community Based Organisation (CBO), “dooh” at the village kiosks from the water source and, final drop “doooh at the end of Thundu village.
Thousands of the villagers in the informal settlement surrounding Kangolwa HCF in Ntchisi district including the sprawling suburb of Thundu village never dream of accessing piped clean water.
“We are very thankful and we will always cherish the trickling of safe water from taps in our homes within the village. We used to drink with wild and domestic animals at Kateta and Chagalu rivers.
“Sometimes the kindergarten in our village had no water for our children to wash their hands before eating porridge. When WaterAid meet mzungu wakunja (the donor-Wimbledon Foundation) they provide us with clean water which is trickling in our taps and tinasiya kutsekula (we stopped suffering from water borne diseases,” says GVH Thundu.
Fredson Chimowa who is Secretary of Tap Committee at Thundu village piped water is the only commodity that ties and bind them together. He said when WaterAid got the piped water from the source at Thundu village they were working with the Health Advisory Committee (HAC) of Kangolwa HCF and side-line the community.
“We felt it was not in order that the source of water, installed pumps and 30,000 litres tanks are here at the community. People are elected into HAC and they can be chosen any part surrounding Kangolwa so for them to be coming here to supervise, we felt neglected,” says Chimowa adding that “We complained when visitors from Mozambique came at Thundu village and that currently things are now different, we are taking full charge of our own water piped development.
He, however appeal to WaterAid not to do the same elsewhere. The last 2022 rainy season the one (1) kilometre pipe trench had an erosion to the extent that the pipes were exposed but through the sixty (60) Members Village Committee, and that upon realising the ownership they voluntarily backfilled the trench.
Chimowa, who is also focal person of Thundu village tap number four (4) says they were trained by WaterAid in Malawi on fundraising, maintenance and operation.
He said for sustainability each household contributes 150 kwacha and that currently they have 75 thousand kwacha which is being used to procure spare parts of the taps; and there is maximum security to guard water pump.
WaterAid in Malawi Head of Policy and Advocacy Chandiwira Chisi says at WaterAid, they are redoubling efforts to ensure HCFs are equipped with basic WASH amenities and that patients and healthcare workers are protected from deadly infections.
He said they are working with governments, UN agencies, other NGOs and communities to achieve universal WASH in HCFs and ensure that everyone can access and benefit from quality, safe and dignified healthcare.
Chisi says WaterAid is campaigning for more money, infrastructure, behaviour change campaign, accountability and capacity building to ensure that everyone has access to safe, quality, and dignified healthcare and that all health workers, are able to work safely.
The organisation also advocate for a gender responsive and inclusive WASH in HCFs agenda, calling on governments and other actors to recognise and include the participation of women and vulnerable groups in the planning, delivery, and implementation of WASH in HCFs standards and services.
While Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are key fundamentals for quality health care, pandemic response and preparedness, and cubing the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – communities of the hard to reach such as Thundu village are no longer drinking in swampy with domestic and wild animals as was the case previously.
