By Adérito Bié, CARE Mozambique
Atália Massango knows what it means to be thirsty. The mother of four children lives in Mulepo, a small settlement in Inhambane province in southern Mozambique. Like many other mothers, she used to leave her home in the early morning on the hours-long journey to fetch water.
The current drought in Southern Africa threatens the lives and livelihoods of around 40 million people. In Mozambique alone, almost 100,000 children are already acutely malnourished and every second child is chronically malnourished. Most women walk 20 kilometers every day so that their families can survive. Atália had to carry a can of 25 litres on her head and also carry a young child. Every day she spent hours walking between home and the water source and wait in long queues.
“Sometimes I took the children with me so they could take a bath. But it’s a long and exhausting journey for them. Often I washed the clothes there as well and let them dry then pick them up the next day,” she says.
And Atália’s day did not end after hours of walking to supply her family with water. She also worked the fields and did housework to earn some money for her family; her children helped wherever and whenever they could. “When my mother fell sick, it was me who had to fetch water, and sometimes there was no time left to go to school," says her 15 year old son Anselmo Samuel Chitsango.
In the southern Mozambique village of Chideme, Adélia Armando Mathé lives alone with her three children. The 41 year old has been a farmer since childhood, providing for herself until last year’s drought brought on by El Niño made her fear for her family’s lives. Lack of rain destroyed the crops of maize, cowpeas and groundnuts and the children João and Marta went to school on empty stomachs as there was simply nothing to eat. She feared for the health of her youngest daughter, Eulízia, only five years old.
“I could only provide her with two meals every day, mostly consisting of wild fruits. I was so afraid that her physical and mental development might be badly affected. As a mother, I have never felt so much pain," says Adélia, in a despairing tone.
But all of this now lies in the past through Atália’s involvement in the committee on water and sanitation and Adélia’s training in the farmer field school. A few weeks ago Atália’s and the other villagers’ lives completely changed when CARE repaired the village’s water source which had been broken for the past four years and 75 mothers and their families no longer spend whole days walking to ensure adequate supply.
Women and girls are often the most affected by disasters such as droughts. (photo: CARE)
The community of Mulepo participated in the rehabilitation of the water source. They created a water and sanitation committee for the operation of the pump and are managing a fund in case further repairs become necessary. The mostly female committee manage the source and for pump maintenance, each household contributes 20 meticais (around 30 US cents) monthly; families with livestock pay the equivalent of around 80 US cents. The money is kept in a safe managed by a committee member who in turn reports to the group. According to committee member Anita Elias, the purpose of the initiative is to help families create a fund to be used in case the source gets damaged again.
"I am a water and sanitation committee member and I am able to do minor repairs myself. We were taught that we should take care of the source. This way it will last longer. For example, we cannot come without a headscarf to make sure our hair does not fall into the well. Also, we now avoid clogging the water source with tree leaves, and close the source at night so it won’t be vandalized," explains Anita.
For Atália, a new life has begun. With access to safe drinking water, her children are now less likely to fall sick and can devote themselves to their studies. “I will use the water to grow vegetables, lettuce and onions. This way, we can survive the drought,” she says.
Further rehabilitation and construction of water sources is urgently needed, as not everyone has been as lucky as Anitá and her family. In Inhambane province, 2500 families, including pregnant women and children under five, do not have enough to eat and drink. The country is currently facing the worst drought in 30 years. In total, around 1.9 million people in Mozambique are facing food insecurity. The people here live mostly on agriculture and livestock. Without water, nothing and no one survives.
"So far, 20 holes were rehabilitated and new ones are to be constructed. We are working very closely with CARE to make sure that families do not have to walk longer than one kilometer in total to cover their daily water needs. The government plans to increasingly improve the basic conditions for the population,” says Fernando Omar, Administrator of Funhalouro district.
“With CARE I have won the fight against the drought.”
These are Adélia Mathé’s words since she joined a group that is part of the Farmer Field School that teaches different agricultural techniques. Adélia’s neighbour had seen her suffering and invited her to attend a community meeting. That was where she found what she was looking for: a program that teaches practices and techniques such as conservation agriculture to improve production even during long and severe droughts. For example, she was introduced to new crops such as lab-lab, canavalia and most importantly "mucuna", which is a plant that protects the soil from weeds. She also received new, drought-resistant seeds and tools such as hoes, axes and machetes.
"I learned to plant several different crops in rows and use green manure. Before, I did not know that burning grass would harm the soil,” says Adélia, who has been using her knowledge to replant her field. With a lot of hard work and dedication she managed to grow crops of cowpeas and maize. "I feel that for now I have won the fight against the drought. It is not enough to last for the entire year of 2016, but at least I can feed my children for now and do not have to worry that hunger will ruin their future,” she adds.
She also makes sure to pass her knowledge on to her children. Her village is proud of Adélia, who has become a role model in a region which is heavily impacted by the worst drought in the past 35 years. She is one of many farmers trained by CARE to bridge the gap until the next harvest and improve future ones.
"She helps us to put in practice what we were taught. We need to take care of our land and we now know other crops that we can use in times of drought. She always helps us and gives advice," says Marta Quilombo, recently inspired by Adélia to join the Farmer Field School too.
CARE is a member of the consortium COSACA composed of four humanitarian organizations: CARE, Concern, Oxfam and Save the Children supporting families most affected by the drought that is plaguing the country since last year.