Zimbabwe children face cholera threat

With the lack of clean water and the rainy season round the corner, Zimbabwe is facing another possible Cholera outbreak, aid agencies warn. Sewage from pit latrines seep further into the ground water, putting thousands of families at risk of catching the disease. Last year Zimbabwe experienced its worst cholera outbreak in history, which killed more than 4,200 people and sickened nearly 100,000. And with millions of people living in rural Zimbabwe without clean water the disease is likely to erupt again warns the United Nations.

Even before the rains start Irene Ngubeni is ill. Plagued with stomach cramps, she thinks have come on through after drinking contaminated groundwater, she has travelled 170 kilometres from her village to Bulawayo, the country’s second biggest city, for treatment. "We do have a borehole in our village, but people always talk about the water being unsafe to drink," Ngubeni told Reuters news agency. "Villagers still use open spaces as latrines and yes there is a possibility that waste has found its way into our drinking water," she said.

But Zimbabwe is not alone. Contaminated groundwater is a problem faced by many countries in southern Africa. Only a few Southern African countries are properly managing groundwater, say experts, which is leaves millions of people living in rural areas with clean water at risk. As many as 70 per cent of families who live in Zimbabwe’s countryside depend on groundwater. But because it is not properly monitored, sewage from latrines placed too close to boreholes has polluted people’s drinking water. But with proper monitoring in place, experts say, the contamination can be avoided and at the same time save lives.

These figures come just as aid agencies, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, say Zimbabwe faces another possible cholera outbreak as the rainy season approaches. Managing underground water is crucial in preventing contamination, says Barbara Lopi, at South Africa’s Groundwater and Drought Management Project. "An example (of this) is Zimbabwe where the cholera outbreak emanated from contaminated groundwater from a borehole," she said at a seminar. "Rural populations across the region build their latrines near boreholes and this has helped spread diseases like cholera,” she added.

In the meantime Ngubeni and people in her village are cautious about protecting their water supply. But she said they only become concerned when someone takes ill. "It is when someone complains of stomach pains and diarrhoea that people start speculating about the cause because we do not boil the water," she said.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children