Abstract

The purpose of the study was to analyse access to potable water by people living with disabilities in Nyakatondo and Foya villages in Mount Darwin district. This district is located in Mashonaland Central Province in Zimbabwe. The study was influenced by the lack of empirical studies on water and disability and the acute potable water problems in the two villages. The researchers applied ethnography to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the problem. The study aims to improve the access to potable water by people living with disabilities in the two villages. This overall aim can only be achieved through appropriate understanding of the factors constraining access to potable water by people living with disabilities. The study shows that access to potable water is a serious development problem in the two villages and generally the northern and north eastern parts of the district due to low rainfall levels, low underground water levels and salty water. These problems imply that potable water poverty is high in the two villages and the other parts of the district. The existence of merely one borehole for each of these two villages that is located far from the villages poses potable water challenges for people living with disabilities and everyone else. Prioritisation of water development and convenient water delivery are key recommendations for the transformation of the wellbeing of people living with disabilities and everyone else. The improved water services in the villages should also entail the designing and redesigning of water facilities to enhance accessibility, access, usability and safety for people living with disabilities.