The sun is beginning to sink behind the mountains and two young women are still gathered at the stream, scrubbing clothes against the rocks. One of them has laid her four-year-old son, wrapped in a thin blanket, on the hard stone beside her as she works. Although the stream runs through Ha Masalla, the women themselves are from Freistata, a neighbouring village. Freistata still has no water, which forces women to walk an hour down a steep, treacherous hill to Ha Masalla just to wash laundry and fetch water.

Figure 2. Nthabiseng Ntsatsi, from Freistata spends the day at Ha Masalla’s stream washing clothes while her young son rests beside her,  a stark reminder of the daily struggles women face to access water.

They have been at the stream from 7 a.m. to escape the midday heat. Yet, even after more than ten hours, they are still at the stream. When asked when they expect to reach home, one woman replies, “After six. Going back up the hill takes longer.”

Even in Ha Masalla, water is no longer as accessible as it once was. Years ago, Ms. Mamorena Mohlomi had saved her earnings to install a tap in her yard, which she generously shared with her entire village. A relief for women who no longer had to walk long distances for water.

Then the Polihali Ha Seshote Road construction began. Blasting and digging loosened large rocks that rolled down and destroyed the pipes feeding. Some pipes were blocked and others crushed. The village tap ran dry.

Figure 3. The village tap that once provided clean water to Ha Masalla now lies dry after road construction damaged the pipes.

The loss not only affected Ha Masalla but also deepened the struggles of nearby villages like Freistata, which had long relied on Ha Masalla’s water supply for survival.

Shouldering the Hardest Burden

For women like Mamorena, the water loss was tied to livelihoods like brewing Sesotho beer“As village women, we brew Sesotho beer during celebrations. But without water, we can no longer do that,” she explains.

Figure 4. Ms. Mamorena Mohlomi of Ha Masalla, who once built a tap that served the entire village before road construction destroyed its water.

With the tap gone, women turned to an unprotected borehole where both people and animals drank. This forced not just Ha Masalla but also Freistata’s women to spend entire days at unsafe sources, washing clothes in the stream or walking long distances with children on their backs and heavy containers on their heads.

The Community’s Hope that comes with a burden

Ms. Nthabiseng Letuka, another villager, built a tap at her home and opened it to everyone. But the solution came with a new burden. The tap lies far away, down a steep slope. Collecting water means a 30-minute walk each way, with heavy containers and risking slipping on muddy paths when it rains.

Unheard and overlooked

When the community reported their struggles to the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA), a cement shield was built around the borehole. But the structure poorly designed, failed to protect the water from dirt and contamination. For women already exhausted by long journeys and heavy labor, it was yet another reminder of how their needs are disregarded.

Figure 5. The community relies on an unprotected borehole shared by both people and livestock, leaving them vulnerable to contamination and neglect.

Invisible Weight Women carry

From Freistata’s women who leave at dawn to wash in Ha Masalla’s stream and the women from Ha Masalla who lost the tap provided by their neighbour Mamorena, the stories echo the same truth: women and girls carry the hidden costs of development.

Figure 6. Women from Freistata wash clothes in Ha Masalla’s stream, a routine marked by exhaustion, resilience and the heavy burden of water scarcity.

Their days are stretched by endless journeys for water. Their bodies are strained by heavy loads. Their livelihoods disappear when water sources dry up.

It is important that care infrastructure particularly the provision of protected and reliable water supplies must be integral to planning and implementation of all development projects.