Growing up in Chivamba, Ward 28, Manyetu Mutupo (49) met and married Beauty Mutsvangwa (48) in 1992, moving shortly after to Chinoona Village, in the same Ward and district, Zaka. In 1993, the young couple welcomed their first of six children. Manyetu and Beauty practice peasant farming on one hectare of land and own six cows, ten goats, 13 sheep, and several chickens. The couple also runs a grinding mill at their homestead to complement this.

A member and a preacher of the African Apostolic Church, Manyetu is on a motivating mission.

“The community views the Apostolic Sect as resistant to Health and WASH interventions. My drive is to see a change from this view, whereby the rest of the community will view us as people who are receptive to adopting the promoted WASH behaviors under Takunda,” Manyetu shares.

July 4, 2022: Self-motivated Mutupo Munyetu demonstrating the proper use of a handwashing facility to his visitor at his household in Chinoona Village © Mercy Jamba/ CARE 2022

The journey for Manyetu’s household began during a community visioning process where the communities drafted their visions and aspirations. Later, Manyetu was selected to represent Chinoona Village as a Community Health Club Facilitator, where he underwent training in the Community Health Club Approach facilitated by Takunda, a USAID-funded program, in March 2022.

Before Takunda, Manyetu and the community of Chinoona Village faced many challenges, including access to information and knowledge on the importance of health and hygiene issues. The entire village did not have a standard latrine or hand washing facilities. This led to increased open defecation in the village, and proper hand washing was not practiced.

In addition, a high donor dependency on latrine construction meant the village, a community of 26 households, has been slow to adopt positive health and hygiene practices because they don’t have hygiene facilities like toilets, rubbish pits, tippy taps, and pot rakes.

As a CHC facilitator, Manyetu ensures that the community’s aspirations for addressing these challenges are fulfilled through participating in Participatory Health and Hygiene Education (PHHE) sessions. These sessions are essential as recommended health and hygiene practices are likely to contribute to disease prevention in the community through proper hand washing, knowledge, and hygiene-enabling facilities. The community supports this through resource mobilization such as human capital, finance, and material resources. The goal is for the community to be self-reliant and resistant to shocks and stressors.

July 4, 2022: Tinofara Community Health Club proudly celebrating the completion of the 16th latrine in their village. © Mercy Jamba/ CARE

Manyetu has contributed to change in his community. He’s been instrumental in establishing and implementing the CHC through weekly PHHE sessions and other project interventions. The community wanted to reduce donor dependency, so they established Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) working groups that supported the construction and repair of household latrines. This has led to improved knowledge of recommended health and hygiene practices. As a result, a total of 16 latrines have been achieved. Of the 16 latrines, 14 were repaired, two were newly constructed, four lined pits, two pits were dug, and six households are digging their pits. Now people are washing their hands. Proper latrines have been constructed, with 16 households accessing safe sanitation. One toilet even has a sewer.

Empowered by Takunda through training, Manyetu has contributed to the ongoing transformation in his community. Cleanliness is now the order of the day, with community members practicing hand washing hands at all critical times.