Jafet Shipopyeni: 'I did not expect this to give us clean water'

What is your life like, since you are a water distributor?

Jafet: 'Our personal life routine has changed. Now  we are busy and we are serious about our work. We are now giving water to the people and they are very happy with us because we are doing very great jobs.'

Could you describe what people are doing with the water? 

Jafet: 'We mostly use water for drinking, cooking food and for washing. When we were using that bad water from the hand dug well some clothes did not look so good, that’s why we are also using the water to wash our clothes.'

What does the project CuveWaters mean to you?

Jafet: 'To me Cuve waters means a lot, because without CuveWaters there is no more clean water here. We are praying for it to stay here for a long time because it is helping us a lot, we are earning some dollars per day and we are now able to buy our basic needs.'

Have there been things you did not expect or wondered about?

Jafet: 'I did not expect this to give us clean water, but now after the completion of the construction we are having clean water. I think we have not been expecting it to happen here, but now it is happening and it is a miracle.'

Could you please describe a normal working day?

Jafet: 'Every day I have to wake up and make sure I am here at 8 o’clock, giving water to the people. Before I give water to them I have to check the level of water to the tank, so that I can decide how much every person can take home.'

How did life in your village change?

Jafet: 'Life has changed during the construction because more people are employed here to work in the construction. They are the ones who put much effort in helping our German people to construct the CuveWaters plants. And they got some money which helps them because they can buy their things now, it means a lot them. It changed their lives because everybody is happy with the construction and still now they are smiling.'

What do you wish for in the future?

Jafet: 'In the future we are just wishing for our CuveWaters to stay, but to produce more water for the people. So that we never need people to go back home without water because the water is finished.'

Thank you for the interview!

The interview was made by Patrick Rickert