Harare’s worsening water woes have prompted churches to offer residents access to water from their boreholes.

The Roman Catholic Church in Mbare and the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ) are providing residents with borehole water to the relief of residents.

Nyasha Mhlanga from Mbare expressed her appreciation of the church’s new role in saving residents from a potential health crisis. “Water is a basic need and we are happy that churches are coming forward to save the situation, otherwise there could be disease outbreaks, especially here in Mbare,” said Mhlanga.

Anna Mlambo also from Mbare says she and her family get water from the Roman Catholic church whenever council water is not available, adding that residents no longer face severe water problems. Mlambo commended the churches for this charitable service of making water available which is open not only to their members but other residents who are not part of their assembly.

“We are close to both the Roman Catholic church and UCCZ so we consider ourselves very lucky because we can choose where to go at any time. These churches are doing a great job of providing water to residents and really playing their role as the church,” Mlambo said.

UCCZ Deacon, Livingstone Makuyana said the decision to open the church borehole to residents so that they can fetch water was easy as it is part of UCCZ’s role in the community.

“Churches are not buildings but actions and what we do on a day to day basis. We are very open to any member of the community who wants to get water. Actually this borehole was a donation from our American friends so I am sure they would be happy to hear that the borehole they donated to us is helping save communities from a potential water crisis,” said Makuyana.

He added that his church’s head office in Waterfalls is also helping communities around that area with water and is making a positive contribution to their lives as they no longer have to worry about access to water.

City of Harare spokesperson Michael Chideme says the City appreciates the role played by private institutions in providing water to residents, adding that everyone needs to play a role to help alleviate the water problems currently facing the city.