Mozambique: Smiles and hugs for Agostinho, displaced by the floods just before his birthday – Photos

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Smiles and hugs for Agostinho, displaced by the floods just before his birthday – Photos

4:50 CAT | 15 Feb 2023

All photos: Luisa Nhantumbo / Lusa

Agostinho Fátima lost everything in the floods that besieged Boane municipality on the eve of his birthday and, although displaced, he celebrated with those who, like him, survived the fury of the water in Maputo.

“The date of my birthday was almost zero for me this year,” the young merchant told Lusa, surrounded by dozens of displaced people sheltering in the Joaquim Chissano Secondary School in Boane, just 30 kilometres from the centre of Maputo.

Agostinho is among the more than 39,000 people affected by the heavy rain that has hit the Maputo region in recent weeks, causing at least nine deaths and blocking several roads, including the National Highway Number 2 (EN2) between the capital and Boane.

The heavy rain obliged the Pequenos Libombos dam, which supplies Maputo, to open its floodgates, aggravating the hydrological situation around Boane.

“We lost everything,” says Agostinho, whose house was located almost 100 metres from a river in a Boane neighbourhood.

“The river spat water,” the young merchant said.

He fled with his wife when they realized that their house would presently be submerged.

By his 35th birthday, Agostinho will have spent six days at the Escola Secundária de Boane centre, where classes are suspended. He regrets that he was unable to hold the party he dreamed of at home, although there was no lack of evacuees to congratulate him.

“I would have liked to have received flowers and gifts …I’m not really happy… I’d rather be at home celebrating today…,” says the young man.

Hundreds of families are sheltering at the Joaquim Chissano Secondary School, but there is not enough food for everyone, despite the efforts of the Mozambican Women’s Organization (OMM), the women’s wing of the ruling party (Frelimo), which is preparing meals donated by organizations and citizens.

“The situation is complicated. Today, for example, we only had one meal [tea and bread]. Lunch will probably be served around two in the afternoon. We don’t know if we’ll have dinner,” explained Sérgio Sambo, 36, another person displaced by bad weather in Boane.

The efforts of various entities, including non-governmental organizations, are visible on the ground, but there are countless people who need help, at a time when the authorities are warning that bad weather may continue in Maputo.

“We have nowhere to sleep. We are sleeping on the floor in the classrooms,” says Lusa Gilda Luís, the mother of a new-born who managed to leave her home with her son and a suitcase just in time on Friday morning.

In addition to hunger, diseases associated with the rainy season are also a concern for the authorities, at a time when a cholera outbreak is affecting some Mozambican provinces, including Maputo.

“We haven’t registered any cases of malaria yet, thank God. We have some cases of diarrhoea,” Calisto Ismael, a technician from the Ministry of Health assigned to the reception centre told Lusa.

Psycho-social support is also a priority, as most of the affected families live on the poverty line, and lost what little they had in the floods.

“People are very scared and traumatized. We have been working on the psyche of these people to understand to what extent we can encourage them,” says Nazira Alfredo, from the Tzu Chi Foundation Mozambique, which has been supporting the people of Boane.

Floods in Mozambique are common this time of year, the middle of the rainy season, but even so, rainfall has been higher than expected.

Mozambique is hit by floods between October and April every year, the result of its location in the path of storms and downstream of most major rivers in southern Africa.