Lift up cyclone-devastated families in Mozambique

Over one year has passed since the tragedy in Mozambique, when Cyclone Idai swirled above the Mozambique Channel bringing death and destruction to the nation. A Mozambican staff of Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) looks back on his experience, when he found himself on his bed floating on flood water at 3AM with his family shouting for him to wake up. 

“I escaped to a roof with my family and neighbors, but saw a man and a child clinging onto a tree across the flooded street. I swam over to the tree and first grabbed the child, and helped the panicking man with a rope. There was another man pleading with me to save his child so I went across the fast stream which was quickly rising to my chest. I managed to bring the child from the flooded area to the highway bund, and the father was also able to follow me to safety.”

However, when they later tried to evacuate 50 small children by boat, some desperate women forcefully climbed on board. As a result, the boat overturned and all the children who went overboard lost their precious lives. The PWJ Mozambican staff said that he can never forget what he had witnessed. 

Now the challenge for PWJ is to deliver safe, adequate water to the living survivors of the disaster. Together with funding from GlobalGiving and Japan Platform, PWJ has been operating a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) assistance project in Nhamatanda and its surrounding districts in Sofala Province. Thus far, the project has provided safe water to 1,367 families (6,835 individuals).

Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) has been supporting people affected by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique since April 2019. An estimated 400,000 were displaced from their homes immediately after the disaster.

PWJ’s emergency response team visited and interviewed families, community leaders and local governments in Sofala and Manica Provinces that were hardest hit by strong winds and floods. Based on the results of these visits, food (rice/corn flour), non-food items (mosquito nets and laundry soap), and materials for housing (nails, hammers, hatchets, etc.) were distributed. The survivors were able to eat daily and rebuild their homes, with neighbors supporting one another.

From May to August 2019, PWJ moved from distributing emergency relief items to seeds and farming equipment (seeds of maize, beans and vegetables; watering cans, hoes, and knives) to more families, so that beneficiaries could restart farming and expect the earliest possible harvest. Staff from PWJ’s partner NGO, Christian Council of Mozambique, trained the beneficiaries on how to prepare good soil and prevent worms from harming the crops. The staff also visited their fields to ensure that the farmers had gained sufficient knowledge and skills.

Together with funding from GlobalGiving and Japan Platform, PWJ was able to reach a total of 3,386 families with the aforementioned items and technical support for farming in Nhamatanda District, Sofala Province.

Thank you to our supporters for helping us implement this project. We look to your generous support to continue our assistance activities in Mozambique.