The Swiss Embassy and the Swiss Red Cross, branch of the cantons of Appenzell, provided support for the drilling of the borehole and the setting-up of water storage tanks following recent intermittent water shortages at the preschool following a number of years of severe drought. The water shortages threatened the safety and hygiene of the children at the centre.
Prior to the sinking of the 60 metre borehole, Tambanevana Preschool relied on a shallow well that has been drying up frequently forcing staff and children at the school to walk long distances in search of clean water.
Throwing light on their former plight, Founder and Director of Tambanevana Preschool, Ms. J. B Matare said “It was a very difficult water situation we had here. It was very serious and yet we believe that every child has the right to be in a school that offers safe water, healthy sanitation and hygiene education.”
“Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and lack of hygiene not only affect the health, safety, and quality of life of our children, it also sometimes claims the lives of children who die from diarrhea in the district,” said Ms. Matare.
Speaking at the official function to commission the borehole in Murehwa, Ambassador Huber expressed the hope that the borehole’s water will not only improve clean water supply for the generations of children to come, but improve the nutritional status of Tambanevana centre through the garden that has been established since the borehole was drilled.
Children at the preschool celebrated the easy access to a water source with song and dance which illustrated the importance of access to clean water. One of the songs noted how “Life is a little easier now because they no longer have to walk long distances to fetch water from unprotected sources.”
Tamabanevana Zimbabwe was established in 1994 with financial support from a few committed Swiss citizens who formed the fundraising arm called Tambanevana Switzerland and who have mobilized support from private donors in Switzerland over many years. The preschool at Tambanevana has an enrolment capacity of 100 pupils and 40 percent of the children are usually drawn from underprivileged households who would have lost one or both parents often due to HIV/AIDS.
Providing better water, sanitation and hygiene has been at the centre of Switzerland’s support to Zimbabwe in the past years and in schools this support is meant to reduce hygiene-related diseases and helps curb the number of schools days missed by children every year due to diarrhea and other water borne diseases.
