Maseru, June 04 — Despite Lesotho’s abundant water resources often referred to as Lesotho’s gold, local villages largely have water scarcity.
In villages like Matukeng and surrounding outskirts of Maseru, women still rely on distant streams to wash laundry due to an ongoing paradox.
Every household chore, washing clothes, bathing children and cooking meals depends on the water they carry on their heads.
The community is demanding that the government provide equitable access to clean, reliable drinking water.
Frustrated residents are pointing out the deep inequalities they face. Mrs. ‘Mapuseletso Mofana highlighted that while Lesotho exports vast amounts of water to South Africa, they as citizens do not have access to water at all.
She said they live a short distance outside Maseru town but they feel neglected. She mentioned that their basic needs have been ignored for years despite infrastructural developments in nearby urban centers.
Another, Mrs.’Mampho Selonyane said they are registered voters and citizens asserting that access to safe water is a fundamental human right.
“Without water, there is no life, water shortage is death. We cannot have food. We cannot bathe well. We cannot wash our hands. We are vulnerable to diseases,” she declared.
Moreover, Mrs. ‘Maliopelo Letuka stated that sometimes when they come to the well, they see little worms, but said they still drink it because there is no way they can survive without it.
On the other hand, Area Chief Sechaba Letuka reiterated and urged the government to intervene emphasising that water is life.
UNICEF Lesotho reports that water scarcity and the lack of proper distribution networks disproportionately affect women and girls across the Maseru district who bear the daily burden of securing household water.
Meanwhile, to combat these infrastructure disparities, the government of Lesotho, often in partnership with international bodies like UNICEF Lesotho and the European Union, has been rolling out rural WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) initiatives.
Projects are increasingly focusing on installing communal, solar-powered water taps and constructing community water storage tanks to alleviate the heavy daily burden on women.
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