Emergency Response to Cyclone Idai in Mozambique

 

The flooding destroyed many homes, forcing people to live without adequate shelter.

July 2019

A devastating cyclone
It can be hard for many of us to imagine the total devastation caused by a cyclone. The district of Chimoio, in Mozambique, was one of many affected by Cyclone Idai as it made landfall in March. Many people in Chimoio are subsistence farmers. Their houses are made of mud brick and thatch. The initial severe winds were bad enough, but then the heavy rain saturated the ground and soaked the walls of the huts, causing them to crack and then collapse. As the rains continued, the River Lúrio, which forms one border of the community, broke its banks, sweeping away the huts in its path. People living in those huts lost everything.

$10,000 more is needed for this emergency appeal
When Cyclone Idai hit three Southern African countries of Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, ABM was quick to respond, sending $10,000 straight away from our Rapid Response Fund to the emergency response by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in Mozambique.[1]

ABM’s appeal has raised almost another $10,000.

But a further $10,000 is needed.

Many people are now rebuilding their lives, but many too continue to be threatened by food insecurity and lack of access to potable water.

With ABM’s support, the Mozambique church, and their outreach arm, Hope Africa, assessed household needs, especially in those affected areas which are hardest to reach.

In the Mozambique Dioceses of Libombo and Niassa, fieldworkers and clergy have identified communities where no international aid has been received. They are distributing food, water purification packs, seeds and household items.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa presents a child with a food parcel following Cyclone Idai.

What has the church done so far?

• Local church members in unaffected parts of the diocese showed solidarity by donating food, clothes and hygiene products.
• Three tons of food and one ton of clothing and blankets have been sent, together with three truckloads of school materials.
• The Southern African Archbishop, Thabo Makgoba, (pictured) personally distributed 2700 hampers of food and clothing.
• Training on water purification is being conducted with water purification sachets ready for distribution to over 3400 families for 12 months.

What is still planned to be done?

• Further distribution of food, hygiene packs, water purification, clothes, seeds and tools (May – October 2019
• Training and awareness on water safety, diseases, environmental issues, sustainable agriculture and gender justice. (June – Aug 2019)
• Rebuilding infrastructure (ongoing)
• CCMP (Church and community mobilisation) Sept 2019 – Dec 2020

Please continue to give generously to ABM’s appeal so that the church and Hope Africa can continue to assist people in hard to reach parts of Mozambique to recover from the disaster.

 

We join with Archbishop Thabo in this Prayer for Africa:

God bless Africa,
Protect our children,
Transform our leaders,
Heal our communities,
Restore our dignity and
Give us peace, for Jesus Christ’s sake.
Amen