Operation Hydrate takes the fight against drought national
OAKLANDS – Operation Hydrate, a drought-relief initiative, is appealing to residents and local businesses to assist with their efforts to provide water to drought-stricken areas.
The initiative, with a main collection point in Oaklands, was started at the beginning of the year and has since taken much-needed water to areas severely affected by the recent drought crisis.
Yaseen Theba, coordinator for Operation Hydrate, explained how the initiative was started in January.
“The whole idea started when we saw devastating images on social media of animals suffering from the drought and came across a story of a farmer who’d committed suicide because of this terrible crisis,” Theba said.
“It was then that a group of us decided to take action and began collecting water and funds for these areas.”
Theba said it was only when they visited the townships that they realised the extent of the shortage and decided to turn it into a movement, using a hashtag to share information with those who had assisted with donations.
This then escalated and soon, more information was being shared on other drought-stricken areas in need of assistance.
“We got much information on other areas, but also got such a positive response from the public and corporate in terms of water and money being donated,” he said.
Theba appealed to residents to continue assisting Operate Hydrate by either making a donation or volunteering to drop off collected water during the week or on weekends.
Speaking of future plans, Theba explained that Operation Hydrate was initiating phase two of the project, which would focus on putting in boreholes in public institutions which can have boreholes installed.
“The main aim for doing this is to create sustainability in these communities and, through installing boreholes, ensure that they are able to get a continued supply of water.”
Some of these areas already identified by Operation Hydrate include Modimolle, Swartruggens, Barberton and Senekal.
Theba concluded by reiterating that the organisation’s need for more donations is still high, especially for the borehole project, and they are continually seeking more volunteers.
“Our appeal is to businesses and individuals to contribute towards the initiative by either visiting our website or social media page.”
Details: www.operationhydrate.org.za
