Maravi

(GUARDIAN UK) You can't teach a thirsty child Theme - Water and sanitation

You can't teach a thirsty childTheme: Water and sanitation
Adam Oxford
guardian.co.uk

Seven-year-old Irene laughs and disappears into the tall grass, leaving her friends waiting on the dusty footpath. A couple of minutes later, she reappears, holding an old plastic bottle which she's just filled from a small stream.

The water inside is green with algae and insect eggs float on the surface. Irene smiles and takes a sip, then carefully screws the top on and puts it into her bag.

Irene walks this route through Simakakata community near Kalomo in Central Zambia every day, commuting barefoot between her home at Chibwe Farm and the area's only school. It's a 14km round trip which takes around two and a half hours each way. She sets off at 7am and gets back, exhausted, just in time for nightfall and bed.

Normally, Irene won't drink anything from the time she leaves home in the morning until she gets back at night. The borehole at the school ran dry years ago, and the nearest functioning one is privately owned and strictly rationed. It's closed to the schoolchildren from 10am daily, and from September to December when it runs low, they are often turned away altogether.

At home, Irene fills pans from a small pond just behind the single room hut she lives in with her sister, her parents, her orphaned cousin and her two baby brothers. It's almost identical to the slow stream that she's just visited. The five month rainy season only finished a week ago, but the water is already cloudy and still, while cattle and children drink side by side from the same pool that's used to wash clothes.

Her story isn't unusual. Statistically, just 40% of the rural population in Zambia has access to safe water, but a 2006 survey by the Central Statistics Office found that that number drops by half again in some of the poorer provinces.

The scarcity of safe water hits areas like Simakakata hard. On top of occasional outbreaks of cholera and typhoid, a fifth of children here will have suffered from chronic diarrhoea within the last two weeks. The resulting dehydration is the main reason that the under-five mortality rate is over one in ten.

Irene's headmaster, George Matantilo, explains that the more subtle effect of water-borne illnesses is to derail the community's ambitious plans for development and self-sufficiency.

"Of course the children are often ill," he sighs, "And when they are sick, they can't come to school, so they fall behind in their studies. If they keep missing lessons, they won't improve, and as they grow up they lose interest in education. Most of the adults here aren't educated, but they don't want their children to spend their lives looking after animals like they do."

Lack of water for basic sanitation exacerbates health problems in a culture where eating without cutlery is the norm. For older girls at schools like these, it can be even tougher: one in five spend a week every month at home because they're embarrassed by not having anywhere to wash during menstruation.

Responsibility for improving access to clean water lies with the government, but like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, money in Zambia is scarce. Export revenues have been hit hard by the global recession and corruption remains rife. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) reported concerns in February that government officials had used funds for rural water supplies to install private boreholes on their own plots.

Chola Mukanga runs the non-political blog Zambian Economist (www.zambian-economist.com), which hosts lively discussions about development issues within the country. He takes issue with another Zambian commentator, Dambisa Moyo, whose book 'Dead Aid' is currently riding high in the best-seller charts with the message that international organisations should "turn off the tap of aid" to Africa within five years.

"At the moment," he says, "Ninety-five percent of funding in the water sector comes from foreign aid, because the water companies are not in a position to fully recover costs through rates. Without aid in this area, the impact on lives would be immediate."

There are promising signs that money is being used more effectively, says Mukanga. Local radio stations are encouraging debate among the rural population, providing information and an independent voice for communities in a country where most media outlets are state owned. The traditional authorities are also proving themselves a powerful force for change, offering reliable long term oversight for new projects.

"Chiefs are emerging as a real voice to push for a better deal," he explains, "One of the best sanitation drives in Zambia is led by Chief Macha in Choma, who commands confidence from donors and government."

Westone Sianchongwe is the Senior Facilitation Officer for Response Network (www.responsenetwork.org), a local NGO which works through the traditional authorities to start self-help projects. He's a passionate advocate for communities like Simakakata, and encourages them to solve problems without outside help wherever possible. Drilling a borehole, though, costs over 62 million kwacha (around £7,500) and meeting the needs for the Kalomo area alone would require over half of all the extra government funds earmarked for developing the water infrastructure this year.

"We've sunk 12 boreholes in Kalomo district," explains Sianchongwe, "To achieve the Millennium Development Goals they need 2,500 more. Without intervention from outsiders or NGOs, I do not foresee a time that 100% water coverage will be achieved."

There is hope for Irene, though. George is working with a UK charity to raise funds for Response Network's 13th borehole, which will be on the site of a new school building at Simakakata. With a reliable water supply, he says, he'll be able to attract more trained teachers to work here and irrigate a garden for the children to grow vegetables which they can sell to raise funds for the school.

"The most important thing," he concludes, "Is that the children have something to drink during the day. You can't teach a thirsty child."

This longlisted article was published on 23 July 2009. It was written for the Guardian's International Development Journalism Competition between 1 April and 22 June 2009.

Labels: CHOLA MUKANGA, DAMBISA MOYO, DONORS, WATER

posted by MrK @ 7:33 PM