School Piped water system brings smiles to children in Mangwe

Growing up in an area where drinking water from river beds and learning in a school without water sounds far-fetched to many, but this has been the reality for Langelihle, a grade three learner at Dukwe Primary School in the mostly dry and drought prone Mangwe district of Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland South Province.

Langelihle would carry a bottle every day and ensure that she fills it to the brim at the nearby river bank before proceeding to school for her daily lessons. She had to ensure that she carries enough water that will sustain her throughout the day as there was no other water source at the school. Although the water would relieve her quench, the process of accessing it was unfriendly and tedious for a child her age – as a result, she often got to school with a wet and dirty uniform.

They say that water is life and indeed it became that and more for Langelihle and her friends when World Vision partnered with the school and surrounding community to construct a piped water system.

The water system has ten stand pipes (taps) serving the school and two serving 63 households in the community. Langelihle and other children at the school are now attending classes regularly and the development has also motivated teachers who would sometimes have to leave class to go and search for water to focus on their full lesson delivery.

The piped water scheme has made life easy for children as they can now drink from the taps and wash their hands regularly thus avoiding diseases.

This intervention brought smiles to teachers, children and the community. The biggest smile was from Langelihle who continued to beam as we spoke to her.

“I am happy that World Vision came to my school and gave us water. I do not have to worry about carrying a water bottle anymore. My friends and I can now wash our hands and drink from the tap whenever we want and this makes me happy.”