Combating the water crisis
HOUGHTON - Houghton was flooded with givers of goodwill on 30 January as volunteers collected bottles of water to distribute to drought-stricken areas in the country.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation teamed up with #OperationHydrate to deliver water to the people who most need the resource.
Explaining how the operation took shape, co-ordinator of the project, Yaseen Theba said, “#OperationHydrate was formed when a group of volunteers came together after seeing images and hearing stories of the desperation for water in the Free State and Eastern Cape.”
Theba was pleased that South Africans showed immense support for the cause.
“It’s difficult to estimate the number [of people who volunteered]. South Africans have come out in their numbers, many schools and companies have taken on the campaign. People are mobilising throughout South Africa, many of them we don’t even know about. On average, we try and arrange between 15 to 20 volunteers per truck when distributing.
“We have already distributed over four million litres and hope to do a massive distribution this weekend.”
A number of South Africa’s biggest companies including Hollard, Mango, Dischem, Virgin Active and many more have pledged their support for this initiative.
Community members can do their part in helping South Africa fight the effects of the current drought by logging on to the #OperationHydrate website and volunteering.
Details: operationhydrate.org
