SOUTHERN AFRICA - Church World Service
is seeking $2.6 million for recovery efforts in parts of southern Africa,
where more than 2 million people have been affected by the region's worst
floods in generations. Immediate emergency needs, such as basic shelter,
water, and food, have been met. "The big issue is for the long-term
recovery... providing them with the basic household and agricultural inputs
for them to begin farming again and begin supporting themselves,"
says CWS Emergency Response Director Rick Augsburger.
Worst hit is Mozambique, which had been making great economic strides since
the end of their long civil war in 1992. Says one flood survivor, "The
civil war was difficult and took a lot away from my family, but the flooding
has taken everything." Some 650,000 people are displaced, and 120,000
families have lost over 140,000 hectares (345,800 acres) of land and crops
due to the flooding.
CWS is working to help rural families
that lost all household and agricultural supplies to re-establish their
farming capacity as they return to their homes. Families in Mozambique
are hoping to plant crops again in September, and planting is expected
to resume sooner in Madagascar. Some 6,000 returning families in Mozambique
and 8,000 families in Madagascar will receive rural resettlement kits,
which include blankets, plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, health kits, landmine
awareness materials, cooking utensils, a charcoal cook stove, wash basin,
plastic jerry can, basic food stuffs (rice, beans, maize, sugar, salt,
cooking oil), seeds, and tools.
Madagascar + 1 more