Update on Hurricane Idai

Season 1, episode 4

Update on Hurricane Idai

High winds and massive flooding from Tropical Cyclone Idai have affected more than 3 million people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi –half of them are children. We bring you to the ground in Mozambique to give you an exclusive update on what UNICEF is doing to help the children and families affected.

Episode Transcript:

[00:00:00.36] We are at a secondary school in Beira in Mozambique. So this is the town that really got the brunt of the storm. Much of the town was hit hard so that the streets are very wet. Rooves have been blown off of the houses and many people have come here for shelter. So it is dry. It is a place where they can get some clean water, get some food, and they can get some blankets. People have been donating blankets and clothing because these people have escaped with nothing.

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[00:00:39.80] Hello, I'm David Morley, the president and CEO of UNICEF Canada and the host of our UNICEF Canada podcast. That clip you just heard is our executive director, Henrietta Fore speaking to you from a child reunification facility in Mozambique. More than 1 and 1/2 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. They and their families were caught in cyclone idai. One of the worst natural disasters to ever hit Southern Africa.

[00:01:14.18] This podcast episode isn't a part of our usual scheduled programming and it's a bit shorter than the episodes you're used to. But I really wanted to take this time to provide you one of our podcast supporters with an exclusive update on this urgent emergency. If you're listening to this podcast, it means you care and support children who need your help. And now is truly one of those times.

[00:01:40.88] As you may have heard on the news, heavy rains and flooding in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe continue to threaten 3 million people and half of them are children. UNICEF is responding quickly to reach vulnerable children and is coordinating its response with national governments, UN country teams, and partners to deliver life saving emergency supplies.

[00:02:05.78] To tell you more about what's happening on the ground. We have Daniel Timi, chief of communications from UNICEF Mozambique. Hi, Daniel. Can you give our listeners an update on the threats children are facing.

[00:02:19.70] I just returned from Beira and the situation there is desperate. There's many people moving around who have lost their home. And right now, the government has opened up schools and other public buildings so that these people at least have a roof over their head. But the conditions in these centers are desperate in terms of water and sanitation but also food, medical care. And we are also as UNICEF very concerned about the protection of children because they are very vulnerable in such a situation. And we need to create child friendly spaces where we can monitor and protect the children.

[00:03:04.73] With roads and bridges washed out, getting emergency supplies to children is extremely difficult. How is UNICEF overcoming these challenges to reach children?

[00:03:15.38] In the first week, it was very difficult because Beira, the biggest city with 500,000 people living there was completely cut off geographically because the roads were washed away but also cut off by communications. And so we could enter to Beira when the airport was opened again.

[00:03:38.90] And now where it serves as a hub where all the emergency goods are brought in and they are distributed from there, mainly by air to the population in need in the surrounding large area which is flooded.

[00:03:56.78] Have you or any of your colleagues spoken with children who are affected and what are they saying about their hopes and fears in this emergency?

[00:04:05.51] Yeah, I visited one of the centers where we have many children, also many children who were found without parents either because the parents died or because they were separated in the chaos during the disaster. And as you can imagine, these children are traumatized. They are looking at you with sad eyes. They don't know what happened to them.

[00:04:30.53] And some of them are not talking at all. Others are crying for their parents. The older ones often are able to tell us terrible stories of how the water started rising in that night and how their house was washed away and how they had to cling to a tree to save their lives. And as you can imagine, it will take a long time to get over this for these children. And they will need apart from our response to their first needs like water and food and shelter, they will need psychosocial support.

[00:05:11.50] What is UNICEF doing to help children who've been separated from their families?

[00:05:17.44] We are in the accommodation centers. We are integrating child friendly spaces. And in particular, we will be taking care of unaccompanied children because they are particularly vulnerable and there will be psychosocial workers who tend to this children who know how to talk to them and how to help them to manage that situation as best as good as it gets.

[00:05:51.25] I understand cholera is now a threat. Can you tell me a bit about that?

[00:05:56.37] So as we are speaking unfortunately, the first cases of cholera were declared which is a very serious problem. We are primarily focusing on preventing the spread of cholera through the provision of safe drinking water. But we are also with partners organizing a vaccination campaign which will start in the next few days.

[00:06:22.65] We will be vaccinating 900,000 people which in itself is a logistical problem because the disaster area in many places is very difficult to access. And secondly, we have to accompany this campaign with a communication campaign to convince the people that this is the right thing to do, the vaccination.

[00:06:47.03] So we work with our network of community radios and experts who are specialized in conveying these messages. Then for cholera, we also have now pre-positioned cholera treatment centers already. They are ready and running and ready to accept the worst cases. 10% to 20% of people who have cholera need to be treated in the hospital, the others can be treated as outpatients. But we and the partners are prepared for that one too but main focus is prevention.

[00:07:23.72] What can Canadians do to help right now?

[00:07:28.46] UNICEF has estimated that alone for the first three months will need 30 million US dollars to respond to the most urgent needs. And we are very happy that solidarity was declared from all over the world and that pledges come in from countries and donors. But in particular, we are very happy for each and every individual donor. And we know from our friends in UNICEF Canada that many people have called their and asked what can we do to help.

[00:08:01.79] I can only appeal to you please continue like this. The situation here for children is desperate and we really need your help. Thank you.

[00:08:14.22] As Daniel just mentioned, if you'd like to donate to make a difference for children affected by this emergency, please go to our website unicef.ca and you'll see where you can donate on our home page. We'll be back in a few weeks with a brand new episode. Thank you for listening and supporting children who need your help around the world.

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