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13 March 2001 by Christopher Black in Chupanga Once a small community of huts around the abandoned church of a Catholic mission, Chupanga now hosts a temporary camp for almost 3,000 people, who have sought refuge from flooding in central Mozambique that has destroyed their homes. Destroyed and forgotten during Mozambique's civil war, the community became a town overnight with the arrival of thousands of people evacuated from communities as Kague, Cocorico, Luabo, Chinde, Marromeu, Milha 12 and Sede - villages located too close to the flooded Zambezi river. The camp has replicated the village structure - it is formed by six sectors, each led by a village elder or 'fumo.' Clean water, sanitation and health facilities are the main concerns, according to an International Federation assessment team, visiting the camp. "The people in this camp are living on the edge," says Carlos Afonso, a member of the International Federation's FACT assessment team. "Right now, there are only five latrines for more then 700 families." Four volunteers from the Beira branch of the Mozambican Red Cross have come to Chupanaga, and are working with people from the camp itself to build 50 more latrines. "Clean water is an urgent need for the residents of this camp. The only source of drinking water will soon be lost," says FACT Team leader Niels-Erik Hedlund as he points to the hand water pump rapidly disappearing under the rising Zambeze. "Nearby at a camp for 1,500 people near Nensa, the situation is even worse - no drinking water, no latrines," he adds. To address this need, the Federation is sending a water and sanitation emergency response unit to Chapanga, which will be capable of purifying thousands of litres of drinking water every day. The Mozambican Red Cross and the International Federation are working together with other partners - Food for the Hungry International and Médecins sans Frontières - to meet the needs of people living in the camps. The Red Cross has distributed 93 family tents and two additional tents will be given to teachers to create a temporary school for the children. A further 4,000 tents are en route to the flood-affected zones of central Mozambique. Volunteers from the Mozambican Red Cross will work with doctors and nurses from the Ministry of Health in a health post and in the hospital which was moved from Marromeu to Chupanga when flood waters threatened the building. At the health post, nurses do not complain about the workload, but their tired faces tell another story. "We work in 12-hour shifts, staying open 24 hours a day," says Paul Pedro, a general nurse. At night, with no electricity and no roof on the centre, treating patients is difficult. "Day by day, the number of patients is growing - today we will see over 150 people," he says. Malaria, skin infections and diarrhea caused by drinking poor quality water make up the majority of the health problems seen by the staff. "The food the people receive is fine, "he says "but the water they drink use to wash their dishes in is causing many, many problems." Riqueta Tole is waiting to see a nurse. Her one-year-old baby Ines has skin infections and open cuts - a recipe for danger living in a camp in a flood zone. The family of nine left their home in the village of Cundwé the day before. As the waters rose, they escaped on a boat leaving all their possessions and food stocks behind. Once on dry land, they continued by foot to the camp - a journey of six hours. "We have trained volunteers on their way here to work with the staff of the Ministry of Health" says Manuel Nyama, President of the Mozambican Red Cross Caia District. The work of these volunteers will be crucial in assisting the nurses and disseminating information on hygiene and proper water treatment techniques to residents of the camp. With each passing hour, the waters rise and more people arrive in Chupanga on foot, by tractor and by helicopter. "At the end of each day we analyse the situation, and the end of each day it becomes clear - the needs are increasing dramatically," says Nyama. Related links Mozambique floods appeal More news and reports from Mozambique |
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More then 3,000 people are living at the camp which is based around
an abandoned Catholic mission. More people arrive every day from communities
now under the Zambezi. (p6286).
