Musabayana School and the community near Mutare, Zimbabwe have a dire water situation. The wells are either dry or contaminated, and persistent droughts worsen the situation. The kids must bring unfiltered and contaminated water from their home wells to school each morning before class. Moreover, there’s no reliable rain to grow crops.

 

As part of Shamwari International, a non-profit organization from Walla Walla, WA, we work to change life for the school and community. We provide the capital, and the community makes it happen. To date, we have:

• Drilled a well at the school 328 ft deep, but because of the hydrogeology, the well only had about 7 ft of water during the rainy season, which was not enough for the school. The well dried up completely during the winter.

  • We were made aware of a prolific well about a mile from the school. We deepened the well, supplied a pump and solar panel for water withdrawal, supplied two 5,000L and one 10,000L water-storage tanks and mounted them high up the mountain to create gravity feed, and supplied about 0.2 miles of piping from the well to the tanks and 0.5 miles of piping to the school.

  • The community dug the trenches to bury the pipes by hand.

  • Established a community garden to introduce agricultural curricula and provide a source of fresh vegetables for school children. Set up a fence and bought drip irrigation system kits for the community garden.

  • The well was deep and productive, but the community started using it as well as their wells dried up, and we could not deny them the water since they dug the trenches and were parents of the Musabayana school students.

 

Shamwari International has spent $35,000 towards these crucial water development projects but, these wells have since dried up because of persistent droughts and overwhelming community demand for water. A more reliable source of water is desperately needed. We now plan to withdraw water from the nearby Mupudzi Dam, about 1.9 miles from the school. The dam has water all year round. To this end, we have:

• Dismounted and relocated the tanks from the mountain to the school

  • Acquired water rights for Mupudzi Reservoir for school, community, and the garden,

  • Purchased an electric pump to withdraw water from the reservoir,

  • Purchased about 1,900 ft of pipes but need close to 5,000 ft to reach the school from the dam.

 

Currently, Shamwari International is buying water monthly ($500) to be delivered to the water tanks for drinking water only. This solution is impractical and unstainable. We need your help to finish the project of pumping and treating water from the reservoir to the school tanks and garden.

 

At a minimum, we need $33,600 to fund the following:

• $7000, for pipes to cover the distance from the reservoir to the school buildings and garden,

• $3600, for two more 10,000L storage tanks ($2,000) and stands ($1600) for water pressure,

• $3000, for water filtration system for tanks designated for drinking water,

• $1500, for contract services for pump enclosure at reservoir and electrical power to pump,

• $15000, for trench and pipe installation to every classroom, laboratory, toilet, house and school grounds,

• $500 for irrigation kits in the school garden

• $3000 for agricultural equipment, tools, seeds, and fertilizer for garden, and

 

We have set up a GoFundMe page for donations:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/provide-water-to-musabayana-elementary-school?member=29994131&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=whatsapp

 

A 10-min video describing the water need and development can be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/S5Ije6XS7UE

 

Thank you for your consideration, time and support for this important life-saving water development project for the Musabayana School, community, and garden.

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Your donations will be highly appreciated!

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