Report from Nqiningana

As you may have heard, Gcinisizwe's brother passed away suddenly not so long ago, he was only 39. As a result Gcinisizwe has now become the patriarch of the family after burying his father and 7 other siblings, now only 3 remain. These deaths were a result of chronic poverty and a reminder that we must cherish every moment and continue working on behalf of the poor, because they too deserve to have a life with opportunities.

Gcinisizwe is currently in Nqiningana for the burial of his brother and while on location has taken a moment to give us an update on the current situation.

The trees that were planted in May of this year are growing strong due to the dedication of the community members who hand water each tree. This is a relief because Nqiningana is also facing a horrific drought as they have not had a drop of rain since June of this year. Due to the lack of rainfall the village well has now run dry leaving the village with no sources of clean water. The grass in the area has died and as a result animals such as cows and sheep are also dying. As a reminder, there are no lakes, rivers or streams near the village. Currently the only source of water is a small reservoir at the base of the mountain however this water is not clean or in my opinion potable. I have pasted a picture of this water for you to see, clearly it is not of high quality.

I have been researching alternative water sources and there is one that seems promising for the region of Nqiningana and it is called Fog Harvesting. This is a process of collecting fog or cloud water droplets on a mesh fabric and directing the water to the village. More can be read about this process here:
http://www.southafrica.info/about/sustainable/fognet-270810.htm

I would like to propose that we begin fund raising for this project now. I have already begun sourcing supplies for the necessary materials. If you are interested in donating to this project please email me at thembaproject@gmail.com or donate directly with canadahelps.org  type Themba in the search bar.

Fog Harvesting has been tremendously successful in other regions similar to Nqiningana. This project could literally transform this community and finally give them a sustainable and renewable source of water.