Christian NPO Uyesu Nathi has committed itself to providing safe drinking water to schools during the current water crisis in the province.
The Khayelitsha-based organisation donated 400 litres of water to Injongo Primary School and 820 litres to Ummangaliso Primary School, both in Khayelitsha, two weeks ago.
The organisation said it felt obliged to help the schools.
Raymond Xazana, managing director of Uyesu Nathi, said he was prompted to start the initiative when his child, a pupil at Injongo, came home with stomach cramps.
He said they immediately rushed the child to the nearest clinic and were told the cramps might have been caused by consuming contaminated water.
Instead of buying water for his child, Mr Xazana said he opted to buy water for the whole school.
He said he was worried about children from less fortunate families. He called on the public to assist and there has been an overwhelming response with people donating cash.
He said every first week of the month they donate water to the two schools. He said they hoped to get additional funding to adopt other schools.
Mr Xazana urged parents and the community to help the schools, but most importantly, he said, water should be used sparingly to avoid Day Zero now moved to June Monday 4. “We need to donate more water. Those who can buy water may drop it at our church so that we can distribute it at schools,” he said.
“We cannot afford the trouble of rushing the kids to hospital because they didn’t drink safe water or they didn’t wash their hands.
“The situation is manageable; all we need to do is to ensure we play our part. We need to save water to avoid Day Zero and stop being negligent.”
Injongo Primary School principal Sithembele Mhletywa said the move by the church was commendable. “We welcome the donation and we believe it will help our kids. We will give the water mostly to Grade Rs as they are the ones who may easily be affected by the diseases because of their age,” he said.
Mr Mhletywa said they did not expect the donation and were grateful that the organisation thought about them. He said most people were ignorant about the current water crisis.
He called on other community organisations to follow in the footsteps of Uyesu Unathi. If you want to help you contact Xazana at 071 171 0711