“All
I need now are blankets for my 19-year-old boy,” said
Maria Ndlovu of Kuwadza high density suburb. “It is culturally
unacceptable for me to share the same blankets with a boy of
his age.”
Mrs. Ndlovu, a mother of five, is among thousands of families
who lost what used to be their homes in the Zimbabwe government’s
current ‘clean-up’ exercise.
Her eldest son, who is currently attending a local high school,
was not spared either. The small cabin given to him by a local
church was also destroyed. Mrs. Ndlovu, her five children, a
widowed sister and her two children now have to sleep in one
room offered by her friends.
She looked tired as she arrived at the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society
offices to look for assistance. She had walked several kilometres
from her place to ask for blankets and accommodation for her
children, especially the eldest son.
“I can’t afford to withdraw him from school now
because he is just about to sit for his exams,” she explains.
She also fears that there are very high chances of contracting
infectious diseases such as tuberculosis as the house they are
living in is over crowded.
Mrs. Ndlovu’s small snack-shop, her only source of income
to buy food, pay school fees, and support the family, was also
caught in the ‘clean-up’ operation. There seems
to be no immediate solution in sight apart from going back to
her communal area.
Hers is one of the many cases that Zimbabwe Red Cross Society
is faced with at their provincial and national offices as many
people flock to look for assistance.
With the situation still unfolding, the total number of people
affected is not yet clear, but the UN estimates that more than
200,000 families have been affected and are in need urgent assistance.
Although the situation remains fluid, the Zimbabwe Red Cross
Society has put in place contingency measures to respond to
the humanitarian needs of the affected people.
“Having realized the humanitarian needs of some of the
affected populations since the beginning of the operation, the
Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, with the support of the International
Federation and the International Committee of Red Cross, dispatched
a consignment of blankets, soap and other essentials to our
provincial offices with which to begin a short term response
to meet the immediate needs of the most affected people,”
said Mrs Emma Kundishora, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Secretary
General.
Some of the affected populations are being kept in transit camps
in different parts of the country awaiting relocation to either
their communal areas or alternative places. The Zimbabwe Red
Cross society is coordinating the management of the humanitarian
activities in many of these camps to ensure that their humanitarian
requirements are met.
Recently the International Federation, through its Disaster
Relief Emergency Fund released 100,000 Swiss francs (US$ 78,000
or €64,600) to finance the purchase of non-food items which
include blankets, clothes, soap, kitchen sets and jerry cans
which are being distributed to the needy families.
“We also distributed clothes worth Z$640 million to vulnerable
children, men and women at Caledonia farm in Harare. This forms
part of the response package given to us by the Danish Red Cross
society,” Kundishora explained.
She added that the Red Cross was also going to distribute clothes
to other vulnerable groups located at various camps in other
parts of the country.
“We are now taking a coordinating role in some holding
camps in the country which includes Bulawayo in Matabeleland
central and Mutare in Manicaland,” said Karikoga Kutadzaushe,
Zimbabwe Red Cross society national programmes coordinator.
“We will be coordinating response activities in the camps
reporting to the social services subcommittees. The coordination
with other organizations such as the UN agencies is excellent
at the moment,” he added.
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A
child displaced by the government’s ‘clean-up’
campaign holds clothes donated to Zimbabwe Red Cross by
the Danish Red Cross. (P12991)
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Zimbabwe
Red Cross Secretary General Emma Kundishora distributes
relief items to children at Caledonia farm, one of the
holding camps for people displaced by the operation. (p12992)
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The
Zimbabwe Red Cross has installed toilets at the holding
camps. (p12994)
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As
well as humanitarian assistance, the Zimbabwe Red Cross
has been donating recreational material. Here Karikoga
Kutadzaushe, national programmes coordinator gives footballs
to displaced children. (p12993)
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News
