Floods recede but life still a challenge

Nov 04, 2007

DURING the three months of heavy rains and floods I was left in this hut. I would have been washed away by the floods but I am alive due to God’s mercy,” says the 88 year-old in Ateso. Susana Eyakolit could not commute to dry areas like the others in her village because she is not only old but a

By Patrick Jaramogi

DURING the three months of heavy rains and floods I was left in this hut. I would have been washed away by the floods but I am alive due to God’s mercy,” says the 88 year-old in Ateso. Susana Eyakolit could not commute to dry areas like the others in her village because she is not only old but also blind.

“She can’t walk easily and at times we have to cross small swamps at high risk. So we have no option but to leave her behind and check on her in the mornings,” says her brother Kupalyana Awupal, 77.

Awupal is one of many that have been commuting to higher, drier grounds to avoid sleeping in a flooded home. For James Peter Amuge aged 37, life with his three wives and 19 children has become so harsh that they look on in disbelief as he explains the situation.

“We have no food and can’t get any. This place is inaccessible for relief distribution. We are surviving on God’s mercy,” he says outside his water-logged compound.

He says he has to set off at 4pm daily with his family of 24 to sleep at a school located six kilometers away. “At exactly 6am we start trekking back here to allow room for children to study. We leave all our beddings outside the classrooms,” he explains.

The three months rain that hit the districts of Kumi, Amuria, Katakwi, Bukedea, Kaberamaido and Soroti as well as Lira, Pader, Gulu and Kitgum has left over 300,000 people homeless.

Hundreds of huts collapsed, the people’s cassava, millet and groundnuts rotted in the water logged gardens. The displaced people have been taking refuge in nearby schools, hurches and health centers. Only those like Eyakolit stayed.

Abaim Solome, 73 a camp leader in Amuria says that most of the people who were staying in the low lying areas were affected. A total of 13 children were born in classrooms in Okocho village, Amuria district during the period of the floods.

“The health centers were hardly accessible.The roads were washed away and there was lack of transport means. These mothers had no choice but to give birth in these classrooms,” said James Peter Amuge, chairperson Okocho village.

But now that the floods have subsided, local and international relief agencies like Actionaid have started helping the affected societies by distributing non-relief food items to the displaced persons.

“Relief items such as food are good but will not last for long. People have lost their harvest in the floods and the planting season has also passed.

We feel it is important to set them ready by giving non-relief food items such as seeds and agricultural implements to give them a soft-landing,” says Actionaids’ information officer, Rebecca Musoke.

Musoke, who led a team of officials and the media during the flood impact assessment tour in the districts of Bukedea, Kumi, Soroti, Amuria and Katakwi, adds that joint relief distribution is needed urgently.

Soroti district mayor, Stephen Ochola, says: “The food basket in Teso region started to get affected right from the planting season. The main issue now is lack of cassava, the staple food in the region. A home without cassava in Teso is like a home hit by famine.”

“We have given out 1000 mosquito nets, 710 pieces of tarpaulin, 2,730 meters of plastic sheeting and assorted drugs worth sh8m,” Harriet Gimbo Actionaids’ Katakwi programme coordinator says.

The areas that have received support include Amuge camp in Amuria, Achowa, Amusia parish, Omodoi, Magoro and Usuk sub-counties in Katakwi.
While touring the flood affected districts last week Gimbo said Actionaid had committed sh120m as a long term food security recovery programme for the affected areas.

“The next harvest is expected around July because most people have lost out on the planting season and their fields are still affected by moisture,” she said. Lack of access due to the damaged roads and washed bridges has made distribution of relief hard.

And as one walks through the water-logged gardens that are beginning to dry up, the issue of acute malnutrition is eminent. No crops, no harvest for the communities, no food.

But as the floods recede, relief distribution is starting to trickle in. The locals are now praying that rain stops in other parts of the country because water flows towards their area due to the flat terrain.

As humanitarian agencies like World FoodProgramme, Oxfam and Red Cross respond to the demands of the affected people, government has committed sh22b towards rehabilitation of the districts.




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