Expectant mothers no longer have to endure this burden
* It required some great strength and courage for expectant mothers to draw water from a borehole situated 80m downhill
* Since the competition to draw water was always fierce, expectant mothers had to wake up very early in the morning
* WaterAid installed solar powered water pump to supply adequate water for entire health centre
By Dennis Lupenga, WaterAid
Mzandu Health Centre in Ntchisi District was built on top of a hill, which helps to keep it safe from flooding and easy for the government offices to reach it by long range radio communication system.
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The setup, however, created one major problem — access to water because the main borehole was located around 80 metres downhill of the health facility and it required enormous energy to ferry heavy water buckets back up and down.
It was no ordinary task for expectant mothers who were being accommodated at the maternity shelter waiting to give birth as it required of them some great strength and courage to come back uphill after drawing their water for personal use.
One of those who had to strenuously endure this ordeal every day is 25-year-old Florence Banda. Watching her go downhill to collect water, it was astonishing to witness her courage and determination for the task that lay ahead.
After waiting for her turn at the borehole, she collected the water and lifted her 20-litre bucket, which she then positioned carefully on her head. With great fortitude, Florence took a deep breath whilst looking all the way up the hilltop.
Healthcare workers at Mzandu can now smile
But she pressed one step forward, and then another — the journey back to the shelter had just begun.
It took less than 10 steps before she needed to stop to catch her breath — it such was a daunting task [but] Florence understood how important the water she was carrying for her wellbeing. For that, she pressed on.
In an interview, she said: “As an expectant mother, it is expected of us to bathe at least twice a day. Therefore, having difficulties in accessing water was a big problem to our health.
“Since the competition to access water at the borehole was always fierce, we made sure that we woke up very early in the morning — sometimes as early as 4am.
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“For us women at the maternity shelter, we were also tasked to fill up a 200-litre drum with water inside the maternity ward every two days, which was used during deliveries. It took 10 trips with a 20-litre water bucket to fill up the two drums.
“The bathroom facilities always had long queues of plastic basins belonging to different people as the most effective way of reserving one’s spot,” she said.
The women are now able to put a smile on their faces as access to clean water is within their reach right at the maternity shelter through an intervention by WaterAid Malawi.
WaterAid began working at Mzandu Health Centre through its 150 Health Care Challenge targeting healthcare workers that ultimately reached out to expectant mothers and other patients.
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A solar powered water pump was installed at Mzandu to supply adequate water, which distributes water to the entire health centre, including the staff houses.
The project has also seen the construction of sanitation facilities such as toilets, bathrooms, an incinerator, and placenta and ash pits.
Nurse and midwife technician, Patricia Mwenyeheri adds credence to the challenges that Florence and other expectant mothers faced, saying having no running water and a shortage of toilets at the health centre had brought many other challenges.
“Water is a priceless commodity in hospitals,” she said. “We need water to run the hospital in so many ways, some of which include keeping our corridors clean; washing our hands before and after attending to a patient and cleaning our equipment.
“In the maternity ward, having no water means women would not be able to clean themselves after giving birth and in such cases, sepsis and other infections can become common.
Water is life
“So, a hospital needs clean water for it to function as intended, otherwise people can come here with minor infections but go back home having contracted other serious diseases.”
The burden of having inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services at Mzandu Health Centre has for years haunted many expectant mothers, out-patients, medical staff and the surrounding community members — but the 150 Health Care Challenge has changed all that.
The women are now able to put a smile on their faces as access to clean water is within their reach right at the maternity shelter while the washrooms and toilets have also guarded their human rights where issues of privacy and dignity is ensured.
The sanitation facilities and access to clean water has also protected health workers, whose safety and wellbeing greatly depends on water availability and convenience.
* Dennis Lupenga works for WaterAid in the Communications Department managing the publication ‘Voices from the Field’
