Having experienced nearly two weeks without water in Plumtree has caused a great deal of agony for women in the town. How does one survive without water? After all, water is a necessity. Women are the most affected when it comes to the shortage of water. Moreover, electricity is always off in Plumtree which affects everyone in the town, especially women. How is a young woman who does not have money for gasoline expected to survive. A young woman is expected to make fire to cook while it is pouring rain outside.
Women spend the whole day in hospital queues only to find out that their subscriptions are not in the hospital pharmacies. Maternity wards are always over flooding with some women being told to go back home and return when they really feel like giving birth.
The garbage collectors make their errands once a week. Can you imagine sanitary pads lying in that dustbin for a week without being collected. Just imagine the shame and embarrassment that women face when the pungent smell from the bins roams in the air.
When children get sick due to drinking unsafe water, women suffer the most as they are the ones taking care of the children. When people get sick because of flies from both stinky dustbins and unclean toilets, women suffer the most as they are expected to clean after the mess. Women are also expected to see to it that they get adequate healthcare treatments which is not even available in our clinics and hospitals.
WRITTEN BY KWANELE NCUBE