About Yonge Nawe

Programmes

Resources

Press Information

Membership

Links

Search

Contact Us
 

Engudzeni Primary School has been without clean water since time immemorial.  Engudzeni Primary is about 25 km east of the Mbulungwane Mountains in the south of Swaziland within the Shiselweni region. It is about 115kms from Matsapha. 

Engudzeni Primary has an enrolment of 500 pupils

Engudzeni Primary School has an enrolment of 500 pupils and 17 Teachers. In addition, it houses about 60 pre-school pupils. The school has been living with an assortment of diseases such as bilharzias, cholera, stomach problems and others due to poor sanitation and access to clean water problems.

 The school is drawing its water from a nearby spring, which is a walking distance from the School and a borehole installed within the school premises.However, the pipe, which links the school and the spring, has since run dry. 

"The tap ran dry months ago," said Mr. I. T. Simelane, the School Head. "We do not know what is blocking the pipe that links the tap and the spring," he added. "Further we are not guaranteed safety because the spring is now unprotected. People stole the fence and moreover we do not have a water treatment system to ensure that our water is safe to drink, Simelane said. 
 

Spring water source

"The borehole is our only source of water but we have been experiencing numerous breakdowns that have left us with no source of water, because it cannot sustain the demand from such a big population depending on it," he added.

 

Pupils learning without adequate desks and chairs

Other than the water woes the Engudzeni school community has inadequate toilets and desks. Grade 1 pupils have to write from their laps. The school is sharing six pit toilets, divided equally between teachers, girl pupils, and boys.

It was not surprising to hear that the school has experienced cholera problems because of inadequate and poor sanitation conditions. "Bilhazia and stomach problems are the most common diseases pupils suffer from, says" Mrs. Sibiya, Secretary and Community Health Motivator. "This problem is worse during summer because pupils swim in the nearby stream exposing them to contracting water borne diseases, " she added. 

Pre-school at Engudzeni

The saddest part is that pre-school pupils also use the same toilets, which are not user-friendly at all.  Further, the toilets are located far from the pre-school and because of this pupils use "bush toilets," which is a health hazard. Moreover, the pre-school is operating in a

substandard building with broken windows and without adequate playgrounds. "We have a mobile clinic 1 km from the School run by the Roman Catholic Church. The mobile clinic comes once every fortnight. In addition, we have a Government clinic 6kms from here (school)," says Mrs R. N. a teacher at the same school. However, many people from the community cannot afford to pay E15 minimum fees charged for every consultation.

Engudzeni School’s problems are not limited to the school alone. The community at large is living without safe and clean water let alone toilets. Although they are aware of problems associated with poor sanitation, poverty is forcing them to live under these conditions. "Plans have been put in place to draw water from Dvumako River about 3 kms from Mzila School but funds has been the major stumbling block," says Mr. Phineas Malinga, local Member of Parliament.

More than 70 percent of the worlds population is without clean water, and an estimated 25 000 people die each day as a result of bad water management. Let us ensure that the Engudzeni population does not add to the above stated statistics. The Engudzeni community’s situation calls partnership between the community, NGOs, government, the private sector and donors alike.