2022
This article is to herald and commend the people of a little village in an area known as Ga-Mokgotho in the Limpopo region of South Africa. The Ga-Mokgotho village is dabbled with houses in the valleys of the Limpopo mountains. You can use Google Maps to direct you but will eventually lose signal and need to stop and ask a local for the rest of the way.
We were a three-person team, two cameramen and one photographer (myself) on a job to document how the people of Ga-Mokgotho have created a fresh-water supply feed, all on their own, direct from the Olifants River to their community and individual homes. Officials from the Limpopo government as well as representatives from various water-related organizations were also attending this auspicious occasion and it was up to my fellow crew and I to document the day.
We left Burgersfort at 6am on a slightly chilly Wednesday morning and carried on the extra hour or so we would need to reach Ga-Mokgotho. Our travels took us through rocky hillsides and misty jungle surrounds. The land had the patience from centuries waiting and many a secret to share with those who would but only listen.
After losing signal we asked locals along the way for directions. The people were friendly and encouraged us on with smiling faces and mild curiosity.
We eventually reached our location - the Ga-Mokgotho Community Hall - at 7h30am. A few of the villagers were already waiting, eager for the day's events to commence.
The people decided enough was enough. If their own elected government would not help them they would do it themselves. They mapped out the area and bought piping, bricks, cement and tools to equip them to build their own reservoir. They headed into the hills to find a good location...and they began to build...they built a reservoir to house ten thousand litres of water and dug over two kilometres of ground to place the main piping that would eventually feed this water to their village. It was a miraculous feat. These people don't have university degrees yet managed to calculate and plan out the route of the water not only from the river to the reservoir but from the reservoir to different parts of the village. They built taps along the main pathway in the village so more people could have access to the water supply.
They built troughs for their cattle which in turn aided them further as they used to struggle with cattle going to the river to drink but not always returning. They explained how all this took place in the early 2000's.
Today, they had managed to further transfer the water so that it reached some houses directly. The talks in place were to show government how they didn't strike out in anger when they received no support, but rather used their skills combined and were now asking for help to further the water reach to ALL houses in the village as well as money for the resources needed to build a second and third reservoir.
The Ga-Mokgotho village is home to about 4500 people (estimate) scattered through the hills and it is a goal to have sustainable living for all. Ten thousand litres of water may sound like a lot but if you divide it among all the people it isn't an adequate supply. The reservoir also takes eight to ten hours to refill each day so there are times one will need to wait if they need a large supply, for example, to water their crops.
After the talks and a short break it was time for us to see the reservoir. We set off into the hills in two buses. Eventually the path ended for the buses and it was time for us to walk the rest of the way.
When we reached the reservoir I could see how proud the villagers were to showcase their work. They spoke further and invited questions from the government and fellow villagers. Animated conversation followed between the locals and members of government.
We then headed back down the hills to the buses and then on to one of the village's very own orchards. You see, creating the first reservoir has in turn helped create jobs for the local villagers. One such example is the orchard which grows fresh avocados, guavas and citrus fruits and is fed with the water from the reservoir. These plants now feed the locals as well as are available for sale and regrowth in other areas of Limpopo.
The running water also aids the villagers with making their own bricks, and with those bricks they are able to add on to their housing as well as build new infrastructure. This availability also saves them having to travel to the nearest town to purchase bricks there.
Eventually it was time to return to the community hall for the final speeches. The impact was an overall positive one but I could see it was going to take more than this day to get the people the help from government they need. That is part of the reason for sharing these events - to help put these people on the map both literally and figuratively and provide them with the resources and the ease of accessibility they so rightly deserve.
If you're interested to view more, I encourage you to view the photo album of Ga-Mokgotho here: Ga-Mokgotho Village Sustainable Running Water Initiative
Lovely post @LeeBee-SA ! Great to see the work that your group is doing there and lovely to see a positive local story like this!
Some observations/suggestions:
- Love that you kept the width/size of your photos the same throughout the post so there's a nice consistent/uniform layout. Great photos too!! They really captured the experience there!
- Nice and clear text formatting where you've highlighted key points (with bold letters) without going overboard; some folks bold too many words that it's very distracting rather than helpful
- For the section where you detailed what the villagers have built, perhaps you could use a bulleted list. This would help you keep it short and focused and it also gives the reader a clear idea of the various actions done
- At the beginning of the post, you mentioned the "what this post is about" which is great but I think your introduction would be better if you further set the scene immediately. You mentioned further down in the post that it was a group of you headed to the village to document the villagers' efforts in creating a fresh water supply feed. I think this should be part of your intro before you start explaining about the village or your journey.
- This is a personal preference, but I always like a clear line separating paragraphs as it gives a nice break of paragraphs.
So from this:
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We arrived early one morning after travelling from Johannesburg the day before and resting overnight in the town of Burgersfort.. It takes about six hours to get to the village by car and is advisable to use a 4x4 or vehicle with a similar handling.
We were a three-person team, two cameramen and one photographer (myself) on a job to document how the people of Ga-Mokgotho have created a fresh-water supply feed, all on their own, direct from the Olifants River to their community and individual homes. Officials from the Limpopo government as well as representatives from various water-related organizations were also attending this auspicious occasion and it was up to my fellow crew and I to document the day.
We left Burgersfort at 6am on a slightly chilly Wednesday morning and carried on the extra hour or so we would need to reach Ga-Mokgotho. Our travels took us through rocky hillsides and misty jungle surrounds. The land had the patience from centuries waiting and many a secret to share with those who would but only listen.
After losing signal we asked locals along the way for directions. The people were friendly and encouraged us on with smiling faces and mild curiosity.
We eventually reached our location - the Ga-Mokgotho Community Hall - at 7h30am. A few of the villagers were already waiting, eager for the day's events to commence.
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To this:
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We arrived early one morning after travelling from Johannesburg the day before and resting overnight in the town of Burgersfort.. It takes about six hours to get to the village by car and is advisable to use a 4x4 or vehicle with a similar handling.
We were a three-person team, two cameramen and one photographer (myself) on a job to document how the people of Ga-Mokgotho have created a fresh-water supply feed, all on their own, direct from the Olifants River to their community and individual homes. Officials from the Limpopo government as well as representatives from various water-related organizations were also attending this auspicious occasion and it was up to my fellow crew and I to document the day.
We left Burgersfort at 6am on a slightly chilly Wednesday morning and carried on the extra hour or so we would need to reach Ga-Mokgotho. Our travels took us through rocky hillsides and misty jungle surrounds. The land had the patience from centuries waiting and many a secret to share with those who would but only listen.
After losing signal we asked locals along the way for directions. The people were friendly and encouraged us on with smiling faces and mild curiosity. We eventually reached our location - the Ga-Mokgotho Community Hall - at 7h30am. A few of the villagers were already waiting, eager for the day's events to commence.
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Thanks again for taking part in the #ConnectWritingChallenge and looking forward to more great posts like this!
