The Flood.

I want to write a blog entry about all the flooding in Gaza but now that I am sitting down and trying to write, it is proving to be incredibly difficult.

The overall situation is that last Tuesday night (after weeks of rain) the Limpopo River, which is just 1k from my house flooded. The water was really high and the river was humongous, it looked so swollen and enlarged by this point just from all of the rain BUT the rain in Mozamnbique is not what actually caused the flooding. It has also been raining a lot in South Africa and Zimbabwe and basically there are two main dams that were so full of rainwater they could burst, in order to prevent that, the government opened the dams to flood the rivers and because the dams are so close to Chokwe, that was the first town to get hit. The water in Chokwe was up to the roof level of many houses, and because the flooding happened so quickly many people did not get out of town in time and were thus stranded on their roofs or in trees. People that did get to flee set up camps about 20-30k outside of the city and are now living under tents but the camps are short of supplies and cannot accommodate everyone. The flooding in my town has apparently gone down (it was also at roof level) but I just read a news article, which stated that the bridge to get into my down was destroyed, and my village is currently only accessible by boat. The people living in Guija have been without food or clean water since last Wednesday and as a result have resorted to eating dead livestock, bugs, basically anything you can find and drinking dirty water…which of course could lead to the spread of diseases, such as cholera.

Overall around 40 people have died, and over 100,000 people have been displaced. Because the water level was so high, many people lost family members during the flooding and have not been able to get in contact with them. There are crocodiles and other dangerous animals that live in the Limpopo, and have killed people in the past, with the water levels so high, they just add to craziness that I am sure has now ensued in many areas affected by the flooding.


Last Tuesday my sitemate, Elisabetta, sent me a text saying that the Limpopo River was really high and she was afraid it might flood that night. We had already planned to go to Macia, the next closest town, the following day but she thought leaving the next day would be too late, so even though it was already getting dark out (and therefore not too safe to travel) we agreed to pack quickly and try and get out. I threw a change of clothes, my macbook, camera and a toothbrush into my backpack and also grabbed some food for amendoim and we left. I got quite a few funny looks from people while walking to meet Elistabetta; people did not understand why were leaving, it wasn’t even raining. I did not take many precautions for potential flooding because I had no idea how bad it could be and frankly I did not have time. So Elisabetta and I were able to get a bolea out of town (which was perfect because I had Amendoim) and once we got to Chokwe we caught a chappa to take to Macia. When we left Macia I was shocked to see so many people out and about; everyone was trying to leave that night. The lines to get into the gas station wrapped around street corners and people were running around the streets with bags of their belongings. It was around this time that I got a little nervous about the threat of flooding. Like I said I had absolutely no idea and could never have imagined that the water would get so high.

On our chapa to Macia, Elisabetta and I sat upfront and Amendoim sat on my lap. He wasn’t too excited about the chapa ride though and he kept trying to move around and jump at the window, finally after about 45 minutes he sat on my lap, put his head on my shoulder, and sat perfectly still the rest of the way. We got to Macia late that night and stayed at another PCVs house. The next day I decided to try and go to Chissano where another one of my friends lives. There were already 6 of us staying in the house in Macia and I knew more volunteers were likely to show up as the floodwater moved to other towns. After waiting for 3 ½ hours on the side of the road I was able to catch a huge open-back truck bolea to Chissano. The bolea was awesome and I was so happy to get Amendoim somewhere safe. If I had left him in Guija he would have died, there’s no doubt about it.

I stayed in Chissano with a friend for a night and the following day Peace Corps told us we were going to be evacuated to Maputo. It was predicted that another town, Xai Xai would flood, and if this happened PCVs would be stranded at their sites, safe from the water but unable to move north or south. Many people living in villages between Xai Xai and Chokwe (the two towns that were flooded) get food, and produce from those towns, or need to go into those towns to use the bank or buy phone credit..etc So PC decided that in order to ensure we were all safe it would be best for us to be in Maputo together and close to staff. This meant I had to say bye to Amendoim (I am paying someone to take care of him while I’m in Maputo so hopefully that is going alright) and since last Thursday I have just been staying at a hotel in Maputo with a ton of other volunteers.

Being in Maputo is really weird. I feel like I am on vacation because I am staying at a place with running water and electricity and I am getting an allowance while I’m here to pay for things like food, bottled water…etc. A lot of other volunteers are in Maputo right now too and this has been a great distraction from the events back at site. I can’t help but feel incredibly guilty that I was able to be picked up and dropped off to in a big city with so many amenities while many other people from my village are either stranded in Guija or trying to get by in an overcrowded tent camp. I also feel terrible because I can’t stop thinking about all my stuff that had to have been destroyed at site. I’ve gotten over the shock that all of my clothes and shoes and things like spices, decent pots and pans and cooking knifes, and even stuff like good hair products and tampons are all likely to be destroyed. My electronics chargers, my iphone, my other phone sim cards, and all of my books are surely ruined from the water damage but the things that make me most upset are the things that I can’t replace even when I go back to America. Things like my journal, photos and letters from people back at home, my baseball gloves, my running sneakers and my teddy bear---I left all of those at my house and I don’t know how they could be salvaged BUT I still have some hope that not everything is gone.

I go back and forth between feeling incredibly guilty for being upset about all these material objects because at the end of the day they are just things but when you come to the Peace Corps you don’t bring much. Two overstuffed bags and whatever you start to collect in country are all of your belongings so to have them destroyed so quickly is just shocking. Even worse I can’t stop thinking about my village and everyone living in the Chokwe district. I have never witnessed a natural disaster first hand before and it is so scary. These people that were affected the most, the ones stranded on roofs or in trees, no one cares about them. Maybe you read a news article and feel bad for them, maybe someone feels so guilty they donate money to an NGO but at the end of the day there is no way all of these people can be compensated. Aside from losing their homes, having their land destroyed (the majority of people here rely on agriculture to make a living) and being torn apart from family, I am sure that not much will be done to really help them, it would be impossible. I can only hope that after the waters recede that the government is able to do something to help people get back on their feet. Their livelihoods have been completely destroyed and because they live in more rural areas no one sees it, no one has to see it. When food prices increase over the next few months, and there are shortages of products it will become more noticeable how much the province was hurt by the flooding but until then this just another news story about some crazy catastrophe that happened in Africa. You have to dig to find the news on it and that is just so incredibly frustrating.

To end on a more positive note, thank you every one who has gone out of their way to send an email or a message. I really am doing fine. It is nice to be in Maputo right now with friends, and I’ve gotten to eat some really great food :) I have come to terms with the fact that I have probably lost everything from the flooding but I know I am very lucky that I was able to get out safely. I might even be moved to a new site and although that will have plenty of challenges it could also be really exciting. I promise to keep you all updated with news over the next couple of days as I learn more about the actual damage in Guija and how it will affect my Peace Corps service.

Thanks again everyone for thinking of me and for reading this. If anyone is interested I am including a few links to articles about the flooding:

Al Jazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/20131268208905951.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/africa/2013/01/201312622523811225.html (video)

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21206347

African Sources: http://allafrica.com/stories/201301260402.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/201301250264.html