Building dams and communities in Zimbabwe

I have visited many small dams / garden projects in Africa over the past 20+ years, the very first ones I was involved with were in Mali. The local Peace Corps volunteers were helping rural communities near Kadiolo survey their watersheds and place small earthen dams in places where rain-water run-off would be captured and held to irrigate down-stream crops. And of course, this technology goes back way before aid agencies started promoting it. Archeological evidence from Egypt shows these ideas were being used nearly 6,000 years ago!

So, why are we still promoting such old technology? Why do communities still need our help to put these systems in place? There are many reasons, but the two most prevalent ones are capital and social organization. Some of the dams and weirs that CARE is building are substantial structures, capable of holding 10,000 cubic meters of water. To build and install one of these takes engineering expertise, material, equipment and skilled contractors, all of which cost money, often beyond what a poor rural community can afford. Community members can and do provide the land and much of the labour, sand, rocks etc., all of which are essential inputs for the project. But what they don’t have is enough money, and that is where donors can help.

The second issue of social organization involves working closely with community members to conceive and plan how a major piece of community infrastructure will be built and operated. Everyone knows that community involvement in the construction of capital works increases their sense of ownership in the facility, but getting these planned and setting expectations takes time. Equally important is the identification and sharing of the land that will be irrigated as a result of the dam. Upstream land may have to be taken out of production in order to protect the watershed by eliminating the erosion otherwise would carry silt into the dam and eventually render it useless. Almost always the best land is being used by particular families, so they may have to be compensated for sharing their land with others, allocation of this now (more) valuable land needs to be done in ways that are transparent and provide clear social and economic benefits to the community. Donors after all are not interested in building a dam that helps only a few community members benefit, but community consultations to reach agreement on how all of this gets realized are time-consuming, delicate and critical to the success of the project.

CARE staff in Zimbabwe are very skilled in this, and the evidence of their skill is clear when I consider how much larger and how many more families are involved in the dams we are building today in Zimbabwe compared to those I visited in the early 1990s when CARE first became involved in small dam building and rehabilitation works. When I crested the hill and saw a garden that supports 87 families, I knew then that CARE had taken its agriculture programs to a new level, working to change the daily lives of these families, but also, but enabling the production of so much produce, changing the health and economy of the entire district. Farmer after farmer (again mostly women, but with many men engaged) confirmed to me that they generally consumed ½ of what they produced, and sold the other ½. They told stories of people from other districts coming to see their farms/gardens, as news of their success (and high quality produce for sale) started to spread!

Another great set of examples as to how CARE is making a difference, one hectare at a time!

Learn and Earn - group savings and loans in Zimbabwe

I’ve been home from Zimbabwe for a couple of weeks now, and had wanted to get these last few postings up earlier. Unfortunately, I brought back a little passenger with me from Zimbabwe in the form of rickettsiosis, otherwise known as African tick-bite fever! This knocked me on my back for the better part of a week, but is easily treatable with antibiotics (at least here in Canada).

Anyway, back to the main story… How CARE helps Zimbabwean women Learn key skills to help them Earn a better living.

One of the most astounding programs we are running in Zimbabwe is the Group Savings and Loan programs (GSL) in the Masvingo district. CARE helps form groups of (mostly) women who have a common interest in starting to save money. Savings are pooled, and withdrawn by group members from time to time. Members use the funds for a wide variety of uses, anything from investing in a micro-enterprise, to paying school fees, or covering the cost of a trip to the clinic, or just buying an essential household item. The existence of this pool of cash enables group members to have access to more cash then they could generate on their own – and in fact, it serves the same purpose as my credit card.

When I have to pay for my children’s day care expenses, I use a credit card because the day-care expects the money at a specific time, and that may or not be at time when I have enough cash in my bank-account. I don’t want to have to sell my computer to pay the fee, otherwise one of the key assets I use to earn my living would be gone (not to mention that the computer actually belongs to CARE!). The existence of these group savings means that if a Zimbabwean family needs to pay for antibiotics to treat African tick-bite fever, they don’t need to sell a sewing machine or cut back on meals in the household or take a child out of school. They borrow from the group members and pay the money back over time. By simply borrowing a larger amount, families can buy goods at bulk rates, another way of saving money over time. By no longer having to sell productive assets, families retain their ability to earn a living.

The groups do charge interest, but unlike my credit card they pay the interest to themselves – so the money doesn’t leave the community. No external money is added to these communities so no one is taking on external debt. The groups are finding ways to pool and use existing capital in more effective ways. The accounting and financial literacy skills are imparted directly to the participants giving them key life skills, which is an important and legitimate source of pride. GSL programs are specifically designed to cater to the financial needs of the very poor, and in many ways, GSL is the misunderstood cousin of micro-finance.

I would dearly love to see these programs expanded throughout Africa. CARE has nearly 1.5 million women already enrolled in GSL programs in 10 African countries, but we have set a goal of expanding this to 30 million, in 30 countries. The day I spent with GSL graduates in Masvingo was all the proof I needed to convince me that GSL programs are meeting a real need and should be offered to every community we can reach.

LIVE: the cholera response aims to save lives

The cholera epidemic that hit Zimbabwe last November/December is the result of one decade of decline: decline in infrastructure, in the maintenance of wells, clinics, latrines and everything that keeps a population healthy. The epidemic peaked in January/February of this year with over 100,000 cases of cholera and at least 4000 deaths. Cholera tends to happen more in poor communities because the preconditions are there. If cholera hits your community, this is a good indicator that you have fallen a long way down. It is a wake up call that things are really not good.

Now it is the dry season in Zimbabwe however, a few more cases of cholera have been reported recently. Because of this there is concern that another epidemic could start at the onset of the rainy season. This is why CARE is, once again, addressing this issue. To prevent another outbreak, we are scaling up our prevention response.

We know how to stop cholera: with clean water, soap, and properly maintained toilets. CARE’s response to cholera in Zimbabwe is to address all of these issues. We have been rehabilitating bore holes, distributing soap, water purification tablets and promoting good hygiene habits. The distribution of water buckets is meant to help people keep their water clean. The buckets have lids. But we also know that distributing things is simply not enough. CARE also organizes community meetings to talk about good hygiene habits. Education about proper hygiene practices must also be promoted.

In a community that we visited, one of the disaster risk response (DRR) exercises focused on cholera. Community members worked on a ‘problem tree’ to structure the issue of cholera. The ‘roots’ of the tree symbolized the roots of problem. One woman told me clearly all the root causes of cholera. She was right on the mark. The ‘tree branches’ are the solution to the problem and the community’s role is to identify them. They know very well what causes cholera. The process of identifying both the problems and the solutions, as well as what you miss in between, is straightforward. The gaps can be addressed by CARE’s programs. Community members know what the gaps are.

Unlike other interventions spearheaded by CARE, community members were not singing and dancing at the cholera distribution site I visited. People are not proud when cholera strikes their community. They were patiently waiting for the essential items to be distributed. The distribution went off without a glitch, although it could have been faster and, in my opinion, more respectful of people’s time since I imagine many walked a long way to get to the distribution center.

Walking in Harare

The first time I came to Zimbabwe was in 1990, when I was working for World University Service of Canada, an organization that posted teachers all over the country and invested in teacher training. I spent most of the 90s in sub-Saharan Africa: in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mali. This is the first real chance I have had since the 1990s to spend time in rural Zimbabwe. The last time I was in the Masvingo province, in the south eastern part of the country, was in 2002. Because I have lived in Zimbabwe before, this was a very emotional trip for me. So many places brought back memories.

The first thing I did when I arrived in Harare city was to take a long walk. I strolled for over two hours through the wide boulevards adorned with acacia and palm trees. On a superficial level and from a distance, the city looks the same as it did in the early nineties. But when you get close to it, look into the shop windows and talk to people, you realize how much has actually changed.

For much of the 1990s, Zimbabwe experienced rapid economic growth. It was perhaps not equitable growth but it was growth nevertheless. What is apparent to me now is that human capacity has not declined at all but that the infrastructure has literally collapsed. Zimbabweans are well educated, respectful and as aware as ever; perhaps even more so now then before. I was really astounded by the level of the conversation we had in the rural areas. Hyperinflation makes people destitute and this is what happened in Zimbabwe. When a currency has no longer any value and money becomes worthless, people have to sell their hard assets to simply cope. This is very palpable in Zimbabwe. You can see the hardships people have lived through for the past 15 years. Homes and shops have not been maintained because of the impact of hyperinflation.

As I strolled around Harare, I noticed very few cars and lots of shops selling items in bulk, with not much diversity. I went to the East Gate Shopping Center. The last time I was here was in 1999, when we visited from Zambia. This used to a fancy shopping mall because it was modern and new. This time around, I could not believe how much it had deteriorated. On the second floor, I saw all the franchise shops, including Debonaire Pizza and a Middle Eastern Deli, all selling the same traditional foods. This is a clear indication that what is available is extremely limited but it also highlights the Zimbabwean spirit, the fact that entrepreneurs still find a way to serve their customers. They did not abandon this place. They changed it. Of course, I do hope to come back someday and to see this shopping center as it once was: modern and lavish.

I have read somewhere that Zimbabwe has declined to the levels of 1953. Progress here means getting the country back to what it once was. The good news is that all the elements you need for recovery are in place. Most importantly, there is cohesion at the village level. You get straight to the point here. You can really talk to people about what they have and what they need and come to a rapid conclusion about first steps. Most of the CARE Zimbabwe programs are about taking first steps. They are not end points but steps towards recovery. They are a good demonstration of the ‘Live, Learn and Earn’ theme that CARE Canada seeks to promote.