MUTUA, Mozambique -- The people
of Mutua are returning to a place where they once lived.
A decade ago they were living a "good
life" with access to hospitals, schools and piped water to their homes.
The "good life," however, was at the height of the civil war when they stayed at the Center of Displaced People in Mutua, near Beira in central Mozambique.
Recently, more than 700 families fled to the re-opened camp after being chased from their homes by the flooding of the Pungue River.
Mennnonite Central Committee (MCC) and its Mozambique partner, the United Church of Christ, are providing the families with food, blankets, used clothing, survival kits, tools and combination school/health kits worth $68,000 Cdn./$44,200 U.S.
On April 17, a team of 12 people from the United Church of Christ distributed 950 MCC blankets and quilts, 45 bales of used clothing, more than 400 school kits, and 95 sacks (50 kilogram/110 pounds) of cornmeal.
This assistance is part of the $540,000 Cdn./$340,000 U.S. that MCC has committed for emergency aid in Mozambique.
The balance of the aid will go the Christian Council of Mozambique to provide tools, seeds and food for people in Zambezia province recovering from earlier floods.
Nationwide, flooding has impacted more than 400,000 people this year.
The present camp is hardly offering the "good life," as latrines are few and diseases are many, MCC workers reported.
Diarrhea, malaria, colds and fungus of the skin have all been reported in the camp.
The families arrived "homeless, shirtless, and hungry," an MCC worker on the scene said. They lost their homes, fields, livestock, clothing, food -- "in a nutshell -- everything" -- as result of some of the worst flooding in more than 25 years.
The only promised food at the camp, outside of the MCC and church contribution, is 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of cornmeal per month provided by the World Food Program. Nearly 80 percent of the families are headed by women.
Many men work in South Africa, while others have left their families or died of illnesses such as AIDS.
The families had hoped to return to their homes after the flood waters receded, but the Mozambique government has other plans for them.
The government is asking people not to go back to their land along the Pungue and instead wants them to resettle on higher ground away from the flood plains.
While the land along the river is subject to annual flooding, recent floods have been particularly bad. Resettlement is the best option, the government says.
Many people agree that it is not a good idea to go back to their flooded homes, MCC workers said.
The government has promised the families land to build new homes and access to their old fields, where they could have small huts.
Resettlement began this week with some families starting to clear land. Each family will receive 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of cornmeal from April through July.
Reported by Cheryl Delaplane, MCC worker in Mutua, Mozambique.
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