WWFA provides relief to Malawi flood victims

As reported by local media, Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) says that approximately 200,000 people have been displaced by the floods which first began in December 2014. So far more than 60 deaths have been confirmed, and over 150 people are still missing. The rains continue today.

Of the 28 districts within Malawi, 17 are affected by flooding–WWFA has installed wells in 11 of the 17 flooded districts. More than 250 square miles are under water.

The eleven districts are: Blantyre, Chikwawa, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mulanje, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Phalombe, Zomba, and Thyolo.

These names may sound unfamiliar and far away, but these villages are filled with real people–fathers, mothers, children, grandparents–who are suffering greatly and need our help.

Please join our efforts to help them get clean water!

 I'm Ready to Donate  View flood photos from Malawi

 

WWFA’s plan to help:

1. Make use of our local contacts and pre-established network of volunteers

WWFA will not stand idly by and allow our friends in our adopted communities to suffer. Although we do not have the resources to solve all of the problems caused by the horrific floods, we have a large network of local Malawian volunteers already on the ground. These caring people know the land, the language, the harshships and the roads. Many have family and friends in the devastated areas.

Our long-established connections in the rural area means precious time and money will not be wasted in government bureaucracy. We already know exactly where to go, what needs to be done and how to do it: but we need your donations to help us take action.

By joining together right now we can reach out and give hope to so many of our friends in desperate crisis.

 

2. Purchase and Distribute Life-saving Supplies

We have excellent indigenous contacts in the city of Blantyre. They will obtain water treatment kits to deliver to families in Nsanje, Phalombe and Mangochi.

 

3. Provide Relief via our Flood Relief Fund

You, our partners in this life-saving work, have helped us save many thousands of our Malawian friends from illness and death through the installation of deep water borehole wells. WWFA wants your help now to protect families from the contaminated surface water caused by the recentfloods. Let us do all we can to help them survive this catastrophe.

Right this minute, even though they are deluged with torrential rain, their water sources are inaccessible and/or contaminated with debris, dead animals and even dead bodies. Clean water, and your generous support, are needed now more than ever!

Please make your donation immediately and be part of these life-saving efforts!

 

Negative Effects of the Flooding

 

Displacement:

In Phalombe, thousands of people have been displaced by flooding, and many have evacuated to makeshift shelters in schools and churches. One school alone is sheltering 1,400 people, according to Davi Chibani, assistant district risk management officer, who is on the ground coordinating rescue and relief efforts. Other temporary camps are sheltering hundreds each.

 

Food Shortages:

With crops being flooded, and stock piles being destroyed, food shortages are a major concern. The government is asking for people around the world to contribute to the cause in providing bags of rice and other supplies to those who have been affected by the floods.

 

Surface Water Contamination:

The threat of waterborne diseases such as malaria, cholera and diarrhea have become a priority, Oxfam’s country director in Malawi, John Makina, told The Associated Press from the capital Lilongwe.

“Some of the drinking water sources have been completely submerged and contaminated,” said Makina. He said his organization is distributing prevention methods and teaching people how to purify water in tent camps and affected communities.
I'm Ready to Donate


Flood images from around the web: