Water is life.

Unless you are a non-living thing, you cannot spend a week without using water.

According to Maslow in his theory of human motivation (1943), water falls under a physiological need.
Water, air and food are some of the needs that one must possess in order to activate a next level of needs such as security need and belongingness need respectively.

Water plays a major role in our life. It can be used for drinking, washing clothes, moping and cooking too.

Life in the village depend on water too as it is used for farming and other uses I mentioned above.
However, shortage of water in the village has created many problems in villages.

For instance, in our village there are only two boreholes which are approximately 300 meters away from each other.
There is no active water tap because all three taps are not working.

On the issue of taps, I think the problem is the position of the reservoir from where all the taps get the supply of water.
All taps access water from Muloza river.
This river tends to dry up more frequently.
It only keeps water at a good level for distribution in rainy season.
The fact also that most of the villages are at higher altitude as compared to the altitude it is located makes it more difficult to supply water to many villages more especially those which are far away from this river even during rainy season.

Mzongwe is one of the villages that suffers the consequences of this phenomenon
On top of that, the fact that in our village we depend on two boreholes, people suffer water shortages more often.
One can easily conclude that two boreholes are enough for one village.
That might be true to that point of view but before making such conclusion some considerations are ought to be considered.
One has to consider the effectiveness of the borehole, the efficiency of the borehole and also the number of people who depend on the borehole.

As for all boreholes in our village they are both beside the main dusty road.
This makes it difficult for the people that are far away from it especially those in the boundary of the village to access water from boreholes.
On the sad note, these people depend on unhealthy well and unsafe river like Mtipwita and Nanchidwa respectively.

The pictures below show people from Mzongwe village drawing water from Mtipwita well and Mzongwe borehole.

Excluding that, Mzongwe village has an approximation of 20, 000 people.
This number of people is too much to be supplied with water by two boreholes merely.

Had it been that both boreholes were working more effectively that could be good, but they tend to break down more frequently.

I remember on 7 May 2021 one of the boreholes behind our house broke down.
It remained unfixed for a period of 3 consecutive months.

The village was at a great problem.
I used to draw water from the other borehole.
It was difficult to draw water from this borehole as almost the whole population of the village depended on this borehole.
Things continued in this state for two months.

After two months the other borehole also broke down.
As a village we had no option but to start using the well we had and the river.
Others were going in the neighboring villages (Ndala and Mission) to draw water.

In additional to that, Mzongwe like any other village within Limbuli zone, depends much on agriculture.
Shortage of water affected the agriculture sector too.

The Nanchidwa river is also used of irrigation but during this crisis we focused much on using it as a source of water for domestic use only.
All farming activities which dwelled on this river were paused.

The picture below shows cultivation of crops using a canal from Nanchidwa river.

We used water from the well and the river for a period of a month.
I was not surprised with the diarrhea outbreak within that short period of time because the water was not safe for human consumption.

That was the time as a village we realised that water indeed is life.

After two months, my brother who has a little knowledge in boreholes introduced an idea that every concerned citizen from the village particularly those above 18 years old should pay an amount of K100.

He clarified to the villagers that the collected money will be used to find an expert who can help to fix the problem.
Some of the villagers agreed while others did not agree with the suggestion.
Fortunately, the village head agreed with the suggestion and gave him a permission to start collecting the money.

I helped him colleting and at the end we had approximately K 40, 000.
We looked for an expert in different villages and zones for two days, but we did not manage to find one.

The next day at around 11 p.m. my brother woke me up.
He asked me to accompany him to the borehole and that he wanted to try to fix it.
In the process of trying, he discovered that it required new spare parts and that there was a possibility that water level dropped below a pump intake.
In the morning, after buying all the necessary spares he managed to fix all the two boreholes.
All the activities which were paused due to water crisis resumed.

All in all, water is life indeed.

Mzongwe like any other villages in Limbuli constituency needs a support on the issue of boreholes and water taps.
The fact that each village possesses a maximum of two boreholes makes people to suffer water crisis almost every year though restrictions are always in place to make sure that people are taking good care of the boreholes.

Pokhapokha ukhake kuti ulibe moyo sungathe tsabata imodzi usanagwirise ntchto madzi.
Monga maslow ananenera mu mfundo zimene iye anamanga mukufufuza kwake pankhani yokhuza zokhumba zamunthu, munthu amayenera choyambilira akhale ndi zinthu zimene amazigwiritsa nchto tsiku ndi tsiku kuti ayambe kukhumbila zinthu zina .
Mwachitsanzo munthu sangakhumbile zogula galimoto alibe chakudya komanso chovala.
Chinthu choyambilira chimene munthu amaganiza kugula ndi chakudya.,Ganizo logula galimoto limabwera ngati munthuyo ali ndi chakudya.
Madzi ngati chimodzi mwazinthu zimene zili zofunika kwambiri pa moyo wamunthu watsiku nd tsiku amagwiritsidwa ntchto zosiyanasiyana monga; kusamba, kumwa, kukolopela angakhalenso kuphikira.

Madzi ndi moyo.

Pa nkhani za ulimiso timagwirisa ntchito madzi.
Timagwirisa ntchito monga kuthilira mbewu komanso zipangizo zina zogwiritsa nchito pa paulimi monga chopopela mankhwala atizilombo zimadalira madzi.
Madzi amagwiritsidwa ntchito kusungunulira mankhwala kuti azikwanisa kutuluka mtimaboo ta chipangizochi.
Ngakhale izi zili chomwechi kusowa kwa madzi mmidzi kwausa mavuto ankhaninkhani.
Mwachitsanzo, mmudzi wa mzongwe muli mijigo yokha imeneso yatalikilana pa mtunda osachepela mamita 300.
Mmuzimu monga midzi ina yodzungulira tilibe mipope yoti ikutulusa madzi .Mongoikilapo ndemanga pa nkhani ya mipope, ganizo langa ndilakuti vuto limene lilipo ndi loti mtsinje umene anagwiritsa ntchito kutenga madzi kuti uzigawa madziwo kumipope mmidzi umaphwera madzi pafupi pafupi.
Kupatula kuphwera kwamadzi, mtsinje wa Muloza umene unagwiritsidwa ntchito ngati phata logawa madzi kumipope uli malo otsika kwambiri poyelekeza ndi midzi imene imawudalira.
Izi zimachitisa kuti kuzikhala kovuta kuti mipope yonse idzila dila madzi kuchokera kumtsinjewu chifukwa madzi amakhala ngati akuchokera kumusi mkumapita kumtunda.
Midzi imene ili kutali ndi mtsinjewu monga mission, Mzongwe ndi Ndala imakanika kandila madzi a mumpope kamba ka ichichi.
Kuwonjedzera apo, mudzi wathu wa Mzongwe ngati midzi ina yodzungulira timadalira mijigo iwiri yokha.
pachifukwa chimenechi mavuto amadzi amativuta pafupi pafupi.
Eya ndizotheka munthu kuthila ndemanga kuti mijigo iwiri mmudzi umodzi ndyokwanila.
Munthu asanafike popanganga ganizoli akuyenera kuti choyamba awone magawo monga awa; nambala ya anthu amee akugwirisa ntchito kagwiridwe ntchito ka mjigo uliwonse , kudalirika kwa mjigo uliwonse.
Mwachitsanzo, mijingo ya mmudzi mwathu yonse ili mmbali mwa msewu.
Anthu amene atalikilana nd mijigoyi makamaka anthu amene ali mmaoeto mwa mudziwu sakwanisa kutunga madzi chifukwa chakutalika kwa mtunda.
Ndizomvesa chisoni kwambiri kuona kuti anthu amene ali mmapeto mwa mudziwu amatunga madzi awo mu msinje wa Namchidwa komanso pachitsime cha Mtipwita.
Madzi ochokera mmalo awiri onsewa ndiosadalilika chifukwa amakhala osatetedzeka.
Chithunzi chili mmusimuzi zikuonesa anthu a mmudzi wa mzongwe akutunga madzi pa chitsime cha Mtipwita komanso akugwiritsa mjigo wa Mzongwe.

Kupatula pamenepo, Mzongwe ngati midzi ina yodzungulira uli ndi chiwerengero cha anthu chochuluka kwambiri.
Mudziwu uli nd anthu osacheoela 20, 000.

Chiwelengelochi mchambiri kwambiri poyelekeza ndi nambala ya mijigo imene chiwelengelochi chadalira.
Mwinako bwezi zilibwino kukanakhala kuti mijigoyi imagwira ntchito modalirika.
Ndizinthu zokhunza kuti mijigo yonse iwiri sichedwa kuwonongeka chifukwa imachulukilidwa.
Ndukumbukira pa 7 May mchaka cha 2021, mjigo umene tayandikananawo unadzaonongeka.
Unakhala miyezi itatu yondondozana usanakomzedwe.Anthu tinavutika kwambiri.
Timakatunga madzi pa ku mjigo umodzi umene unali umagwilabe ntchito.
Mudzi wonse tinayamba kumadalira mjigowu,.
Uzi zimapangisa kuti udzigwira ntchito usana ndi usiku.Katungidwe kamazi kanali kovutilirapo chifukwa pamakhala anthu ambiri .
Ena amakatunga madzi mmidi yoyandikananawo (mission ndi Ndala )
Kupatula ma bizinesi, Mzongwe ngati midzi ina yodzungulira umadalira ulimi.
Kuvuta kwamadzi mmudzimu kunakhunzaso gali la ulimi.
Mtsinje wa Namchidwa umagwiritsiwa ntchton zambiri kutungamo madzi akumwa.
Anthu amagwiritsa ntchito madzi amumsinje kuthilira mbewu zawo zosiyanasiyana.
Chithunzi chili mmusimuchi chikuonesa anthu a mmuzi mwa Mzongwe akugwritsa ntchito msinje wa Namchidwa kuthilira mbewu zawo.Mu nyengonya kusowa kwa

madzi tinayimikakaye zomagwirisa ntchitonmadzi a munsinjewu kuthilira mbewu.
Tinakhazikisa malamulo kuonesesa kuti anthu akutunga madzi akumwa kapena ogwiritsa ntchito zina koma zapakhomo.
Patangotha miyezo iwirin msinje umene umapeleka madzi uja unawonongekaso.
Apa mpamene mudzi unadziwa kuti madzi ndi moyo .
Patatha mwezi umozi , mkuluwanga amene amayeserako kutithandiza mjigo ukavuta mmuzimu anabwera ndi maganizo oti mudzi onse usonkhe ndalama k100 aliyense opitilira zaka 18 zakubadwa kuti ndalamayi apeze munthu woti athandize kukomza mjigowu.
Anthu ena anagwirizananazo pamene ena sanagwirizanenazo.
Mwayi wake ndiwakuti msogoleri wa mmudzimu anagwirizananazo zoti atolere ndalama monga mmene zimafunikira.
Tinatolera ndalama zosachepera K40, 000.
Kwa matsiku awiri tinakhala tikuyang’ana munthu oti azatithandize kukonza mijigoyi koma sitinakwanise kumpenza olo mmodzi.
Utsiku wa tsiku lotsatilaro mkulu wanga anandizusa pakati pa utsiku (11 p.m.) mkundiwuza kuti ndimpelekeze pa mjigo umene unali pafupinafe kuti akayesele.
Titafika pamalo paja atawumasula anapeza kuti zioangozina zatha komanso zimaonesa kuti madzi aphwera.
Mmawa wa tsiku losatila lake analawira mkukagula zipangizo zimene anawona kuti zikufunikazo ndipo atabwera anakwanisa kukonza mijigo yonse ya mmudzimu.
Ncthi zonse zimene zinayima kamba kakusowa kwa madzi zinayambilaso .
Mongophera mphongo, madzi ndiwofunika kwambiri pa moyo wamunthu watsiku ndi tsiku.
Zinthu zambiri zimaima chifukwa cha kusowa kwa madzi.
Kuno kumulanje midzi yambiri ikusowekera chithandiza cha mijigo ndi mipope yamadzi kuti tithane ndi vuto la madzi.Mavuto akusowa kwa madzi amachitika pafupi pafupi chakuchepa kwa chiwelengelo cha mijigo mmudzi uliwonse mu zone imeneyi. Ndakhale tinayesera kusamala ndikutetedzera mijigoyi izi siziphula kanthu chifukwa mijigoyi imagwira ntchito kwambiri.