Feature: Finding water becomes daily struggle for Zimbabwean women amid persistent drought

The clock alarm makes a sharp, piercing ring at 4 a.m. and Chipo Musaruka, 30, immediately wakes up to go and fetch water in a stream about 4 km from her home.

"For the past three weeks this has been my routine. I have to wake up very early to make sure I get water from a shallow well in the river bed before it is finished by others," she said while holding her two-year old baby.

Musaruka is a resident of Mt Darwin, a small town northeast of Harare that has been hit by a water crisis following the El-Nino induced drought that has left a third of the population in need of food aid.

The two dams that supply water to the town -- Tiringindi and Mupfure -- have dried up and the local authority stopped pumping water to the residents a month ago.

For Musaruka and other women in the town, finding water has become a daily struggle as they spend hours each day walking to collect water from unsafe sources such as streams, sewage ponds and unprotected wells.

Residents now fear that the dirty water, along with poor sanitation, could cause an outbreak of water borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera.

"If we don't have a cholera outbreak now, then we will never have it," quipped Norest Mabura, another resident as he explained the dire water situation in the town.

Residents said it was their first time in more than 35 years to see the two dams drying up.

"I had never seen the bottom ground of these dams in my entire life and it is my first time to see them this dry," said 40-year-old Tinashe Shuvha as he pointed to the sun-battered and cracking bottom ground of Tiringindi Dam.

The water crisis, which has also affected major institutions in the town including a provincial hospital, prison, schools and army base, has resulted in enterprising nearby villagers selling river water to the residents.

The few available boreholes are failing to cope with a population of over 12,000 people in the town.

"I started selling water to the residents three days ago and I make about 8 U.S. dollars per day," said 24-year-old Bright Magora, a school dropout from a nearby village who was guiding an ox-drawn cart carrying buckets full of water for sale.

Magora draws dirty water from a nearby river for sale to desperate residents in the town. He charges 1 dollar for three 20-litre buckets of water.

Norah Chonge, a mother of two and customer, said she spends about 6 dollars each day on buying water for washing clothes, household utensils and bathing.

"For drinking water I have no choice but to buy bottled water from the shops," she said, further complaining that the water shortages had inconvenienced them in a big way.

46-year-old Tendai Choga, a mother of six who can not afford to buy water, requested for donor assistance with water purification tablets and drilling of more boreholes as a short-term measure to the water crisis.

"I have been having stomachaches and I think it's due to the unsafe water we are drinking," she said. "We appeal to those who can assist to give us tablets to purify the water."

To alleviate the water shortages, the Chinese government has offered to sink 300 boreholes in the town, with 150 so far completed.

The drought induced by the El Nino weather phenomena is the worst seen in Zimbabwe for three decades. It has had a catastrophic effect, devastating harvests, causing severe water shortages and leaving thousands of cattle dead.

Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri said last week her ministry was seeking cabinet approval to declare the whole country a water shortage area as the water situation worsens.

If granted, the provision will allow the ministry to re-distribute water resources for the common good of citizens.

Most dams in the country have dried up while water tables in most areas have declined to 100 meters instead of the normal 80 meters. Endit