Water scarcity at our school

Gloria Mpokosa, form 2 student, 17 years old, Mphunzi community day secondary school.

By Gloria Mpokosa

I am Gloria Mpokosa. I am 17 years old and I am in form at Mphunzi community Day Secondary School. On behalf of the teachers and my fellow students I would like to tell you about the scarcity of water at our school.

Water is very important. Water is used for cooking. Water is important because it helps with food digestion. It helps transportation of nutrients throughout the body cells. Water also helps the heart to function normally and for the body to maintain its shape.

Water is also used for bathing and washing clothes. When we wash our clothes they smell nice and look good. Once a person baths, they feel fresh, which helps them to think well in class.

We also use water to clean our classrooms, windows as well as the entertainment hall where several entertainment activities take place.

Unfortunately, here at Mphunzi Community Day Secondary School water is very scarce. This creates a lot of problems.

Lack of water leads to students to suffer from coughs. Without water it is difficult to keep our hostels clean. Since we sleep on mats on the floor, dust causes children to have coughs. Such coughs lead to students missing classed and spending their little pocket money on hospital bills.

Currently there is only one borehole in the community that is used by students, teachers and the people from the surrounding village. Sometimes the people make a lot of noise as they quarrel and fight for the water at the borehole.

During summer the borehole runs dry. When it dries up, we fetch water from a well. The well is quite far and the water is dirty. Sometimes students get skin rashes from using this water.

Lack of water also affects food preparation. Often, we eat late because the cooks have to spend a lot of time fetching water. It is also difficult to keep cooking and eating utensils clean. Lack of cleanliness leads to diarrhoea diseases which affects our learning. The café is very important place where food preparation is done. It needs to be kept clean and this is difficult without water.

However, our story is about to change. Soon our water problems will be history. There is a water project happening at our school that is being done by UNICEF. They have dug out trenches where water pipes will be installed. These water pipes will also supply water at the nearby hospital and teachers houses. They have also brought quarry stones which will be used to construct a pillar where the water tank will be.

I trust that this will solve all our water problem. Diseases will reduce and sanitation levels will increase. Our caféteria will be clean. We will have a tap inside the campus.

We will be able to concentrate much on our education. We hope that our future will be brighter.

**Gloria Mpokosa is a 17 years old form 2 student at Mphunzi community day secondary school**