Flood refugees in Mozambique to receive MCC-funded survival kits

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 25 March 2000

CATEMBE, Mozambique -- The view could not have been any better. Directly beyond the veranda where cafe-style tables and chairs would have sat in this once classy Portuguese restaurant was a stunning view of the bay and the skyline of Maputo. But, the view is hardly worth a peek right now.

For the 460 people currently living in the abandoned restaurant/hotel, their view has been clouded by the fact they are refugees of the worst flood to hit Mozambique in 50 years. Ironically, the restaurant turned refugee center is only a few kilometers from many refugees' homes.

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and its longtime local partner, the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM), are joined in a relief and rehabilitation effort that began shortly after the floods hit and will stretch into August and September of this year. The effort includes distribution of food, survival kits and school/health kits.

After a month and a half of heavy rains, including a cyclone, 1.2 million people have been left homeless and more than 500 are dead throughout central and southern Mozambique. Heavy rain fell again over Mozambique during the second week in March causing the levels of several major rivers to rise after they had begun to fall two weeks ago. More rain is expected through the rest of March.

"We never thought the water would come up this far," Maria Zacarias Chauque, one of the Catembe refugees, said. "The water was rising until it reached the tables in our houses."

Chauque and others at the center are concerned that the deteriorating living conditions at the refugee center will bring malaria and cholera. People are sleeping on the floors of the restaurant, some are tucked away in the corners of the former kitchen and barroom, while others are packed into damp, former hotel rooms. The center has no running water, electricity or toilets.

While the Mozambican government has said there are currently no epidemics as a result of the flood, concerns remain that malaria and cholera will begin spreading, particularly if water levels do not recede soon.

One of the first groups in the country to respond to the flood emergency, CCM distributed food to flood victims soon after the floods occurred. MCC contributed $32,000 Cdn./$22,000 U.S. toward the food distribution. Most of the food, which included rice, peanuts, oil, sugar and beans, was purchased in Mozambique. MCC is also purchasing 5,000 survival kits and 20,000 blankets valued at $433,455 Cdn./$298,000 U.S.

"The church acted very quickly," Virgilio Mahuai, a Mozambican relief worker at CCM, said. "They were the first to receive people into their homes" before the refugee centers opened. Food is now being distributed by the Mozambican government, World Food Program and other international aid agencies, and CCM has moved on to the next phase of its response.

While visiting the refugees in Catembe, Mahuai is planning to gain an accurate count of families who will receive the family survival kits. In one region, Moambe, Mahuai counted 3,500 families in need of assistance. The government figure was only 1,500.

The survival kits include pots and pans, cups, plates, utensils, soap, two blankets, a water jug, plastic tarp and bucket and are partially funded by MCC. Assembled in neighboring Swaziland, the first distribution of 5,000 kits began during the third week of March. These kits, along with an additional 5,000 funded by other CCM partner agencies, will be distributed to families during the next few weeks.

MCC is shipping an additional 30,000 comforters and one 40-foot container of used clothing to Mozambique. In another phase of CCM's response to the flood, MCC is also contributing nearly 17,000 school/health kits that will arrive in Mozambique by late April.

MCC may also contribute money to assist CCM with a seeds and tools program in August. MCC is also ready to respond to any housing needs identified by CCM.

For a moment while at the Catembe center, Mahuai does more listening than counting.

"We lost our fields, everything was washed away," Maria Chauque said. Her house is made of reeds and sticks and there are seven people in her family. "They are all safe."

"I went back to look at my house and it is still full of water," Julia Lissenga, another displaced person, said. "Our future is nothing without this shelter."

At another center just outside of Catembe, Mahuai hears more of the same tragic stories.

"We were told not to return to our house because the area around it is vulnerable to disease," Ana Lourenco, who with her only child is staying at another abandoned restaurant.

Mahuai does not have to go far to hear about the flood. While he is assisting others, he is waiting for direct contact from his own family in Xai Xai, a region north of Maputo where the flooding was particularly severe.

"I have had no direct contact with them but I heard through others that they are suffering from some sickness," he said.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org