Malawi Floods Update

Thank you!

This is what we have been able to achieve with your donations;

• Provide emergency lighting and bottled water when there was no water or electricity   
• Fix the damaged roof at Open Arms in Blantyre and the children can once again play on the veranda – in the fresh air.
• In Blantyre 28 staff members have received building materials such as black plastic and cement to assist with protecting and repairing their homes.
• We were able to help two of our care givers, Florence and Lizzie, with major repairs by rebuilding fallen walls.
• On our Blantyre Outreach programme the fallen walls of Mtendere’s house are being rebuilt, and the foundations for a new house that we will build for Isaac have begun.
• The Mangochi Outreach programme has been busy repairing houses that were very badly damaged and are identifying further houses that are in need of repair.

 None of this would have been able to be possible without your generosity – Thank you.

Welcome to Alinafe

In Blantyre we have welcomed a baby from the flood displacement camp in Nsanje, Alinafe (you can read more about him here) and as the real effect of the floods begins to reveal itself we expect to see more babies arriving in the coming weeks, and indeed months. In the few places where crops have survived the flood waters have stripped away fertiliser and nutrients – the Food and Agriculture Organisation are working with the government to reduce the devastating consequences

“Flood-hit families risk harvesting nothing or very little this year, leaving them food insecure at the very outset of the agricultural season.” Florence Rolle, FAO Representative to Malawi.

The Bigger Picture

The situation in Malawi continues to be desperate. The UN estimates that 230,000 people have lost their homes. And as at the 2nd March according to the Malawi Meteorological Service, heavy rains are expected all over the country in the coming days, with risk of rising water levels in the major river systems in the country and subsequent flooding in the lower Shire and along the Lakeshore areas.

In the displacement camps 60 cases of cholera have been confirmed with 2 deaths – Waterborne disease is very real threat. Malaria is also rife, with large areas of stagnant water for mosquitos to breed, and huge numbers of people living in cramped conditions for disease to spread.

 “Floods don’t just kill people by drowning them. They kill people by destroying crops, which means famine. They kill people by spreading disease. They kill people by washing away homes, possessions and livelihoods, leaving nothing to survive on.

This is not just a disaster that will last a few days or weeks until the ground dries up. For many, it will last for years” (From our own Correspondent, BBCR4 read the full article here) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30980324 T