Tropical Cyclone Freddy survivors in Machinga District have disclosed that they are still grappling with challenges as they are trying to get back on their feet after losing their sources of livelihoods.
The devastating storm which swept most districts in Southern Malawi left a trail of untold calamities among multitudes of people and some of them lost lives and valuable property like houses and crop fields.
Joyce Linje, from Joho village, Senior Traditional Chief Nsanama in Machinga District says she will live to remember the gruesome moments she encounterd on the night of 16 March, 2023.
A visibly dejected mother of 4, she recalls the thundering voice of the waters she heard at around 10 o’clock on that fateful night.
”It was continuously raining for four consecutive days by that time. I was sleeping with my family in our house. But after a couple of minutes, we heard a deep voice of the waters making their way into our house. Suddenly, within a blink of an eye, my house was reduced to the ground, and, the narrative completely changed. We became homeless for the first time in 30 years,” she lamented.
For Joyce and other 185 survivors who sought refuge at the nearest Joho Orphan care centre which was turned into an evacuation camp, their experience living at the camp was nothing but a very difficult test of life.
“Life in the camp was difficult because the foodstuffs and other relief items that were coming from aid agencies and other people of goodwill was not enough to cater for all of us such that we lived a miserable life,” added Linje.
As of now, Malawi24 understands that the evacuation camps were decommissioned a couple of months ago and the survivors were eventually advised to relocate back to their respective households.
However, most of the people affected by the storm are still finding it hard to establish themselves back into the old narrative.
The survivors literally lost everything in the disaster, hence the need for better sustainable plans to be put in place in the path to recovery.
Senior Group village Headman Joho said the disaster brought abject poverty to his subjects and he pleaded with the Government, aid agencies and people of goodwill to support them with building materials, farm inputs and other relief items in a quest to alleviate the pain and suffering they are currently going through.
Meanwhile, Habitat for Humanity Malawi with financial support from Habitat for Humanity Zambia, Great Britain and Romania has donated assorted items to 486 people affected with the disaster drawn from 76 camps in Machinga District.
Some of the relief items donated include; blankets, plastic buckets, sleeping mats and soap.
Speaking in an interview after making a symbolic presentation of the relief items at Joho village, Fred Nkowe who serves as Habitat for Humanity International Acting Communications Director responsible for Africa Region but also Resource Development and Communications Manager at Habitat for Humanity Zambia said they were deeply touched with the magnitude of the suffering which was induced by the cyclone.
“As Habitat for Humanity Zambia, we closely work with our friends at Habitat for Humanity Malawi and when they reached us for support, we decided to extend the love spearheaded by our Lord Jesus Christ by donating the little that we sourced so that the people can be supported to cushion the impact of the disaster,” said Nkowe
In his remarks, Habit for Humanity Malawi National Director, Anock Kapira has described the donation as a true gesture of love from Habitat for Humanity International.
According to statistics provided by the department of disaster Management affairs (DoDMA), 114, 562 people from 9379 households were affected with the cyclone Freddy disaster in Machinga.
The donation was made possible with K33 million which was pumped in by Habitat for Humanity Zambia, Romania and Great Britain.
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