In mid-March, Cyclone Idai hit South Eastern Africa - a disaster for tens of thousands of people. Today, nearly 6 months after Cyclone Idai hit, the immediacy of the crisis may be over, but the lasting effects continue to be felt by those in the worst-hit communities. Together, we are supporting communities, focusing on sustainability and building their resilience for the future.
With your prayers, financial support and advocacy in the wake of the cyclone, the response had an amazing impact.
Thank you for your help
We have shared many examples of unity and transformation throughout our response. Your giving has helped the community of Chigodole to become stronger. The Care Workers, Primary Care Givers and local Hands at Work volunteers have cultivated a garden of potatoes and cabbages, and the harvest is promising to be plentiful. Each Care Worker and Primary Care Giver benefitted from their own portion of the harvest, which has created unity and a sense of ownership within the community.
Moving forward, you will receive an update on Cyclone Idai response efforts in November via a Newsletter. In the coming months, additional updates on our efforts can be found on our website and social media.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17
Meanwhile in Africa...
Cyclone Idai podcast round up: Meanwhile in Africa... is a 3+ minute story shared by George Snyman about serving Africa's most vulnerable through Hands at Work in Africa. The following stories are selections from the podcast which specifically relate to the devastating cyclone that hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in mid-March.
She's so vulnerable. The Cyclone hit her and her mom's hut, and overnight they disappeared. They left the village, going four hours into the bushes in a very tough area where men don't like to go.
One of my prayers has always been: Lord, when those times must come to me, may your name be glorified. And that's going to take Supernatural power because in myself, I've got nothing.
She is looking after a number of orphans in her hut. And in the middle of the night, they had to jump out of the house as it completely collapsed. Today they are living in a little kitchen hut.
They didn't know Audrey and I would be coming late that night. Imagine how vulnerable they were if they went to a grandmother with three orphans whose house already collapsed.
One of the first things that you learn when you're on ground zero in Africa after a tragedy like this, is the incredibly small margin for error the poorest of the poor people have when facing a normal, big problem or crisis turned into a disaster.
As a result of Cyclone Idai, many homes were destroyed and many of the communities in Mozambique and Zimbabwe are facing a total loss of their harvest. This will have a devastating impact in the year to come, as many will face a twelve-month-long hunger season.
In Malawi, many homes were destroyed but uniquely, there exists a certain resilience amongst families. All of the families that Hands at Work are serving are currently under shelter, however some of the situations are fragile.
Mildred* and her grandchildren’s house was completely destroyed by Cyclone Idai. Thankfully, she lives on a homestead, typical of families in rural Malawi. While they rebuild, they are able to stay in the home of another family member who lives on their homestead. In communities like Mildred’s, many homes are made with mud bricks which were eroded by the unyielding rains caused by the cyclone. And then, during the night, one of the walls of Mildred’s home fell down. The family scrambled to save what they could before the rest of the home completely collapsed. Today, only the foundation remains.
In Malawi, homesteads are a grouping of small houses on a single property. Extended family live on this property with a communal kitchen shared by everyone. Because the family lives together, the homestead offers some level of resilience. As there are multiple dwellings on one property, families have a place to stay while they come together to rebuild their own homes.
The period between now and October is ideal for building; the rains have ceased and it is currently dry. Families, Care Workers, the local Hands at Work team in Dedza, alongside the Regional Support Team are working to rebuild the houses on homesteads where the worst of the living situations exist. They continue to build resilience, strengthening homesteads and family units.
"I cannot recognize it anymore," the 25-year-old mother said, drying her eyes with a patch of patterned skirt at a makeshift camp of blue tarpaulin, near the riverside village of Cheia. "I cannot find them."
As the official death toll continues to rise, the trail of destruction has left thousands in Mozambique stranded and homeless.
A week after the flooded Mozambican port of Beira was hit by Cyclone Idai, cases of cholera have been recorded, a humanitarian aid group said on Friday.
Many people here are subsistence farmers, whose food for the year ahead was destroyed by the cyclone and the ensuing floods.
Rescue workers are continuing the search for survivors of Cyclone Idai, which swept through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe last week, destroying towns and villages in its path.
ALJAZEERA
Cyclone winds and floods kill more than 400 in southeastern Africa as rescuers scramble to save victims in Mozambique.
Tens of thousands still trapped by flood waters as rescuers in Mozambique race against clock
There were hundreds of corpses washed up on the side of the road; others bobbed past his stranded car, carried by the torrents of floodwater towards the sea.
Millions from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe affected as houses and roads submerged
“Please keep the people of Mozambique in your prayers as they struggle with this difficult situation that has no short term end in sight.”
Drone footage shows the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique’s city of Beira.At the same time, large devastation has been seen in the east and south of Zimbabwe. It's feared that hundreds of people may have died.
