This was Kanimambo Creations first community development in the "new" South Africa as we established a base of operation in this country after Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the first non-racist democratic elections took place in the country. Many years ago before the Dutch (Afrikaners) and British invaded this part of Africa, the MaShangaan and the BaPedi were the two main Indigenous African tribes living in this area of Southern Africa for centuries. The European settlers removed them by force from their ancestral land to homelands, what you call reservations in North America. Some of these homelands are located east of the Drakensberg Mountains and two of the main towns are named Acornhoek and Bushbuck Ridge. Most of these African Native people work in the white farmers (aka boers) agricultural land therefore they have to commute daily between their homes and work place to make a meager salary in order to survive.
We worked with a close local friend of ours, Chester Mathebula, a Shangaan resident of Acornoek in the Mpumalanga province. We have developed a close friendship with her and family, thus offering us the opportunity of getting to know our new country’s hosts. With limited financial resources we managed to assist two of her children to study computer sciences and human resources.
This close relationship developed into our decision to initiate a pilot project in her village as part of our water & sanitation program, by assisting her household with basic rain water catchment and storage in order to improve the sanitation standards of her family and close relatives. They have a municipality water source but is seldom operational therefore we discussed the need to install two large water reservoirs in order to store water from the municipal pipe when it runs, and to catch rain water from the roof through a gutter system.
Our Native Indian friends from Plenty Canada approved our technical proposal for the purchase of two heavy-duty plastic water tanks, gutters, cement, etc, to complete this important community project.
We worked with a close local friend of ours, Chester Mathebula, a Shangaan resident of Acornoek in the Mpumalanga province. We have developed a close friendship with her and family, thus offering us the opportunity of getting to know our new country’s hosts. With limited financial resources we managed to assist two of her children to study computer sciences and human resources.
This close relationship developed into our decision to initiate a pilot project in her village as part of our water & sanitation program, by assisting her household with basic rain water catchment and storage in order to improve the sanitation standards of her family and close relatives. They have a municipality water source but is seldom operational therefore we discussed the need to install two large water reservoirs in order to store water from the municipal pipe when it runs, and to catch rain water from the roof through a gutter system.
Our Native Indian friends from Plenty Canada approved our technical proposal for the purchase of two heavy-duty plastic water tanks, gutters, cement, etc, to complete this important community project.
Kanimambo Creations continued its rural water/sanitation development work in South Africa with the financial support of Plenty Canada by installing a new rain water catchment & storage system at Sello Sepane's household. Sello is an indigenous Pedi resident of the Acornoek community, and an old friend and trainee of Mwana Bermudes. His mother assisted Mwana to establish his bush cabin and project center located in the same region of South Africa, and as a trade-off, she requested him to train her young son in various basic skills so that he could eventually become self-sufficient. He is now married with two children and taking care of two nephews, making a living by working as a professional technician for road bridge construction and also as a taxi driver all over the country.
These two rain water catchment/storage systems were installed at our two good friends both from the Mpumalanga province. Again our friends from Plenty Canada supported our proposals. We believe that our modest contribution towards rural community's water development will serve as an example of how family homesteads can catch free water during the rain season while waiting for the municipality supply to reach their homes. And when the supply finally reaches their taps, they can then use their reservoirs to store water for their home gardens and as a backup of a possible future water system breakdown. They normally have to carry water in wheelbarrows from the closest municipal tap stand and consequently the women spend many hours doing just that. These extended Indigenous rural families are in average between 8 to 12 members.
This rain water catchment/storage was installed by our old friend Meshack, an Indigenous Shangaan, just in time before the great rains came this season. Kanimambo Creations assisted him technically regarding the installation, and financially in order to purchase the plastic water reservoir. As long as it rains, his wife can now minimize her trips to the municipal water tap to fetch water in small plastic containers.