Zimbabwe faces water and cholera crisis

Stop shaking hands
Health officials, following the line of a government that is refusing to declare a national emergency, insisted the cholera outbreak was under control until five days ago.

Then, the best advice Health Minister David Parirenyatwa could offer was to urge people to stop shaking hands.

"I want to stress the issue of shaking hands. Although it's part of our tradition to shake hands, it's high time people stopped shaking hands," he told The Herald, a state newspaper.

The collapse of all services, including refuse collection, has turned the city into a playground for rats that threaten to spread other, more deadly, diseases.

Amid the disaster, Zimbabweans continue to find ways to deal with the crisis.

Those who can afford it are sinking wells and boreholes. Others are buying water tanks and pumps, then paying $50 in foreign currency for a delivery of 500 gallons of water.

Most vendors in Zimbabwe today only accept U.S. dollars or South African rand since the Zimbabwe dollar, once on a par with the greenback, seems to devalue with each hour that passes.

On Tuesday, it was trading for 1.8 million to the U.S. dollar: that is after the central bank dropped 10 zeros from the local currency this year in an attempt to keep up with inflation last set officially at 231 million percent by July.

'Water Samaritans'
Even money sometimes can't buy water.

One supplier told an AP reporter on Tuesday that he has a waiting list more than two weeks long.

Those without foreign currency must turn to "water Samaritans" — suburban residents who have wells or boreholes and are allowing people to fill buckets and jerry cans for free. Some residents are charging for the privilege.

Lines of mainly women and children gather daily outside the homes of people with wells. But even that supply is not assured.

Parirenyatwa, the health minister, voiced the fears of many when he said the cholera epidemic likely will get worse with the onset of the rainy season, which lasts two or three months.

"What I am afraid of is that now that the rainy season has come, all the feces lying in the bushes will be washed into shallow wells and contaminate the water," he said.

More from msnbc.com In slump-hit areas, suicide rates on the rise Brokaw:  The night the wall came down Cosmic Log: How the Maya lived Is the swine flu shot as safe as regular vaccine? Scoop: Letterman extortion case heads to court Signs of the sacrifices of military life On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM AFRICA

Africa Section Front

Somali pirates striking farther out to sea Trial for top Zimbabwean PM's aide gets under way China promises billions in aid, loans to Africa West Africa's giraffes escape extinction Africa Section Front   Add Africa headlines to your news reader: