Thousands of people in Kairesi village, in Muzarabani district are wallowing in abject poverty exacerbated by floods early this year which completely cut them off from civilisation.
The Standard people by Phyllis Mbanje
There are reports that women and children are dying during childbirth while schoolchildren risk lives by crossing crocodile-infested rivers to get to school.
The far-flung settlement, which lies in the Zambezi escarpment and situated at the border with Mozambique, is one of the areas worst affected by perennial floods.
Bridges are washed away while crops are destroyed by floods every year and at Kairesi, the bridges are never repaired.
Hoya River Bridge, which linked Muzarabani and Mukumbura, was swept away, and so was Nzoumvunda Bridge which linked Chadereka and Chimoio and the Kadzurure River Bridge, which connected Muzarabani and the Dambakurima communal area.
Community leaders in the area have sent an urgent plea to government and other development partners to come to their aid as they are battling a string of challenges.
“Recently we lost three women who died during childbirth because we have no clinic in Kairesi. We have also lost about five babies who needed help but there was none,” said Ward 23 councillor Amon Mavengere.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The nearest clinic is Chiwenga, which is 38km away.
Speaking on the sidelines of the handover of dignity kits by the UNFPA at Dambakurima primary school on Friday, the councillor said their challenges were just too many and they were lagging behind in development.
“Maybe they [government] should consider sending us a nurse, especially during the rainy season so that the women and babies can have a fair chance at life,” he said.
Of concern also was the lack of a secondary school despite the fact that there were four primary schools in the area.
“The children are forced to go and stay at a makeshift boarding shelter at Msengezi in Mbire or at Chimoio where they are exposed to all vagaries without parental supervision,” said Mavengere.
At times because of the flooded rivers, the schoolchildren are cut off from their families for five months and this has seen a spike in teen pregnancies and drug abuse.
“At times parents risk crossing the flooded rivers as they bring food to the children.
“Two women were attacked and killed by crocodiles while three others drowned as they attempted to cross Hoya river,” said Mavengere, who had to use a canoe to get to the event.
