How water at home is changing Mariamo’s life in Cabo Delgado
"Now that I have water in my house, I am happy because, at my age, it was difficult to leave home to collect water."
Palma, Cabo Delgado - For more than 20 years, collecting water was one of the hardest parts of daily life for 60-year-old Mariamo Mussa.
Mariamo lives in Farol, Palma District, with her husband, Abdala Ibrahimo. A mother of 14 children, she used to spend about three hours a day walking to collect enough water for drinking, cooking and washing.
Over the years, the journey became increasingly difficult.
“It was very difficult. Over time, I started having headaches and back pain from walking such a long distance and carrying buckets every day,” Mariamo says.
During the rainy season, the quality of the water was another concern.
“When it rained, the water was not very clean,” she recalls.
With a large family, Mariamo had to use the water sparingly. She could bring home only three or four buckets to meet the family’s most urgent needs.
Today, Mariamo no longer has to make that long walk.
About eight months ago, a water supply system was installed in Farol, bringing a household water connection to her home.
“Now that I have water in my house, I am happy because, at my age, it was difficult to leave home to collect water,” Mariamo says.
“Now we do not run out of water at home. We have enough water every day.”
The benefits also extend to neighbours who come to collect water from her home.
“It is also helping other households because they come to get water here at my house.”
Her husband says having water at home has also improved the family’s hygiene.
“Our hygiene has improved a lot. We can now take a bath two or three times a day, especially when it is very hot,” Abdala says.
The family no longer depends on its previous water source, which was often of poor quality during the rainy season.
“We are no longer afraid of getting sick from drinking water that was not very clean,” he adds.
For Mariamo, the biggest change is no longer having to spend hours each day collecting water, a task that had become especially difficult as she grew older.
The water supply system is part of efforts to restore essential services in communities affected by the crisis in northern Mozambique. It was installed with support from UNICEF and UNOPS, in collaboration with the District Government, and with funding from the World Bank through the Northern Crisis Recovery Project (NCRP).
For Mariamo, the result is simple: “Now I have water in my house, and I am happy.”
