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Electricity, deforestation, wind ravages all linked

21/06/2012

The little comprehensive knowledge on the strength of wind currents has cost the villagers in Mangwe district buildings that they invested much wealth in this is initiated by deforestation.
The effect of the trees is the moderation of wind velocity; the lesser the density of the forest the more the pressure exerted by the wind per square kilometer. This knowledge has not been dissipated to the villagers in Mangwe district due to the factors that they cannot prevent due to the sake of their livelihood.

These are using wood as a source of energy because of the high frequency of load shedding. The other factor is due to them not having enough money to buy the tubing to tap electricity into their homes and schools to use computers for a more useful reason. They cannot make use of the electrical appliances they have due to this, thus they have to fell many trees which are wind breakers.

Organizations like Habakkuk Trust have come with this imperative knowledge to prevent any further loss of property due to the winds. They have resuscitated defunct boreholes and sunk wells to bring the resources of building in the reach of those who wish to construct and have given them courses on advocacy and the dangers of this deforestation.

They have however faced problems because they are not majoring in relief but advocacy thus are seeking assistance from other major organizations which can assist in the problem of purchasing tubing for electricity which looks to be the major implementation to reduce deforestation which looks to be a progressional woe for the district if it’s not solved now.

Many of the action teams that belong to Habakkuk Trust have carried these issues to the community which have also faced the same fate of rooftops being blown off by the wind. Reports of deaths have not been reported but advocacy has been effective to warn against the many dangers like these that are posed to happen; while this is happening a team in the central business district in Bulawayo seeking for funding to rectify the issue at hand.

Video by

Nigel Mabiza

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