Warm Trickle in Gokwe...

The first thought one has as one approaches the place where a languid thin stream of water drops from the ground from about three metres in the air is, my God; that is one borehole set mighty high.

The borehole is curiously set almost too close to the road about 60km from Gokwe Centre along the only other road that can boast of the rare glory of having been laid with not just sand or gravel, but a proper tarmac – the road leads to Chitekete, 120km away from the district headquarters. Perhaps the chief reason why the water source had to be set so high up is to discourage cattle minding children from wasting the water and also discouraging them from playing near the road as a result.

The only incongruous thing is that there are children playing under the water – it is almost as if the borehole was actually set so high up so the children could soak themselves away as a pastime. Which is weird, since it is dusk and in the middle of winter to; and winter in Gokwe, as it is with most parts of the Midlands is not just your everyday depressed temperatures - it means sub zero temperatures and a lot of wind and cold. But the kids do not get too carried away into the water game because there is so much mud around the borehole, and one can easily invite a painful prick in the bare feet from thorns that have found a habitat in the muddy soil.

In time, a scorch cart loaded with countless water containers arrives, temporarily scuttling the kids from their source of joy. The driver quickly gets down to business, producing a sack which he ties around the steel pipe, elongating the pipe so that he has no trouble directing the water into the small openings of his containers.

"Where is the water being pumped up from?" queried the Acting Officer Commanding Midlands Province, Assistant Commissioner Learn Ncube, shocked that the water seemed to be dripping out of the pipe on its own free will, with no prompting from anyone. There was no tank nearby to suggest that gravitational force could be forcing the liquid out from a higher source; nor was there any pump in sight that could be screwed shut or open to control water passage.

"Nowhere," came the reply from the man who was collecting the water into his containers. He had just driven his cart right underneath the water and started collecting, just like that.

"The water just comes from the ground. It has been, since a very long time ago."

And it is hot too – well; not as hot as boiling water, but it is really warm – as warm as the sun at 1000hours in winter. The journalist duo of The Outpost has never been near a warm water source on this particular sojourn to Gokwe, and – especially coming from an assignment where they had to wade through clouds of dust from which they emerged whiter then the cotton eyesore that was there to assault their sight at every household in the area – suddenly feel like a hot bath.  

The water actually emanates from an antecedent spring, which preceded the laying of the road and which explains why the borehole is so close to the road.

"At some point in time, somebody decided to harness the water into pipes so it could be utilise for irrigation purposes," explained Inspector Shepherd Hove, the Officer-In-Charge Manoti Police, who has relatives near the Gwaba area where the spring borehole is situated.

"I do not know how they cooled the water, but for a time the irrigation project worked. Then the crops started wilting, and no amount of water seemed enough to resuscitate them. Salt particles had started accumulating around the roost and were preventing uptake of water to the rest of the plants."

With economic prosperity prospects killed by the salt duricrust forming beneath the beds, the only useful thing water could be used for was consumption and bathing. But the drinking of the water has also been another source of slight anguish for the Gwaba folk. It is not that the water has been known to be poisonous, for there has been no recorded ailments directly associated with it.

"But there water has been known to turn people's teeth into a distinct gold colour after sustained consumption."

Legend even has it that one primary school teacher from a nearby school – who doubled as the school music teacher – was so elated after being transferred to another school, which was far into the communal area and removed from the road. But she did not mind that since he reckoned that his chances of winning music competitions had been greatly enhanced by the transfer.

"The teacher was always complaining that his pupils would lose competitions even though they were good singers. But the problem was that they steadfastly refused to smile, lest other people would see the conspicuous colour of their teeth."

But regardless of whether the water leaves a mark on its consumers or not, it has been a source of life for generations in the Gwaba area. And people did testify that it was not the only spring in the area – there were other places that bore these water sources in their lands. But they have not been channelled like the spring borehole at Gwaba. 

Not yet anyway.