A Qacha’s Nek community’s long walk to water ends
For decades, the women of Masuoaneng woke at 3 a.m. not to cook, not to tend fields, but to walk. They walked in darkness toward springs that animals had often reached first, carrying containers that grew heavier with every step, racing other villagers to a scarce and often unsafe supply. “Those who came later often returned empty-handed,” remembers ‘Masetenane Setenane, 56, recalling mornings when the water she finally fetched was “dirty and unsafe for consumption.” Today, Setenane no longer walks in the dark. She turns a tap.
