Providing water purification and temporary latrines for over 700 people at emergency camps in Malawi
Mar 2015United Purpose
Charity Partner
At the beginning of January, over a million people were affected by extreme floods across Malawi. Torrents raged through villages, taking people, livestock and homes with them. Families who had little, were left with nothing- with no savings, no insurance and nowhere to go.
While the most acute phase of the emergency is over we enter into the early recovery phase. With contaminated water supplies, isolated villagers drink river water to survive. There are now around 336,000 people with no home, income, food or water. Many of them are living in emergency camps. With reduced international aid supporting Malawi, there are insufficient national funds to effectively address such a large-scale disaster. Our experience on the ground put us at the core of the emergency and recovery response. We have diverted what existing funding we can and put support in place to get people back in to homes as soon as possible and repair water points, but additional support is needed.
This project will ensure that the affected people have access to safe and potable water supplies, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education. Every £10 donated will support someone in need, so between us we will support water and sanitation for over 700 people at emergency camps. This includes water purification & safe water provision; construction of safe and hygienic sets of temporary latrines in priority emergency camps and hygiene promotion to focus on prevention of child illnesses particularly cholera and diarrhoea.
The Families affected
Akeni Mangwale (65) is a widow. Akeni lost her house and crops to the floods. Her sons are building a temporary shelter for the family. Akeni and her grandchildren stay her daughter’s small house (the only place which survived the floods)- but it’s a tight squeeze for 12 people. Her two sons stay at the emergency camp. They had a meal today- nsima (maize porridge) and bean leaves, but it was not enough. She has no food for tomorrow. She relies on her two sons to bring relief food from the camp. The goods brought in by Concern Universal’s project are essential for the survival of the population in this area. With a more permanent shelter, the family can replant and in a few months could be self-sufficient again. The family urgently need emergency food supplies, basic household supplies, clean water, and fast-maturing crops so they do not miss the next harvest.