In March last year, Cyclone Freddy wreaked havoc in most parts of the Southern Region. One of the hardest hit areas was Makhanga. Government declared the flood-prone area in Nsanje inhabitable. Villagers were relocated to Osiyana and Militoni in the district. Our Staff Writer KONDWANI KAMIYALA visited Militoni Village to see how they are coping. He writes:
Margaret Julius can’t tell you her age. She doesn’t know it. But one can gauge her age at a little over 70. The wrinkles on her face, the strands of gray hair protruding through her headgear, a few missing incisors, and her utse dance moves will tell you one thing: She has seen better days.
Evidently, Julius has seen troubled times. She recollects of past disasters at her ancestral Chilimadzi Village at Makhanga in Nsanje. Every year, as long as she can remember, the area is submerged during the rainy season. In recent times, she has seen more devastating flooding, emanating from tropical cyclones Gombe, Idana, Ana and Freddy.
Previously, villagers moved to higher lands when the area flooded and returned to the ancestral lands where their forefathers were buried.
When Cyclone Freddy struck Malawi in March last year, everything changed. The hard hit Southern Region received six months’ rain fell in six days, leading to the displacement of about 659 000 people, claiming over 1 000 lives. The cyclonr ravaged 400 000 acres of farmland and washed away 1.4 million livestock.
Makhanga was one of the hardest hit areas. It is sandwiched between the Ruo River and Malawi’s biggest river, the Shire. Annually, when the two rivers swell after heavy downpours in the Shire Highlands, Makhanga is submerged. The government declared the area inhabitable.
Senior Chief Kalonga led 23 chiefs under her from Makhanga to resettle at the government allocated land in Militoni Village, T/A Mbenje in the district.
Julius affirms she will never go back to Makhanga. “I spent two days in a tree close to my home at Makhanga when disaster struck. I ate nothing. I just clung to the thorny tree until the rescue team assisted me with their boats. I am thankful to my chief Kalonga who told us to relocate from that tragedy in Makhanga to higher land in Bangula. I am forever thankful,” she says.
After staying at the Bangula Admarc displacement camp for nine months, Kalonga’s subjects relocated to Militoni Village in September last year.
Today, Julius is torn deep inside. She has no home.
She says: “I have been staying in this temporary shelter for over a year now. It is so hot, like sleeping outside.”
What was meant to be her temporary shelter is now a permanent home. She still sleeps in the structure: bare floor, black plastic sheeting held by a frame of tree branches and thatched grass roof which must have been replaced six months ago.
The structure measures about five by three metres. One would think it houses goats or other livestock from the scorching heat. But, it is the abode for this elderly survivor.
“This is my home. I can’t go back to Makhanga. I have seen worse days when the two big rivers flooded. I thank God who gave our chief the wisdom to lead us up here from Makhanga. But I wish I had a better place to dwell. Look, I am too old and I have nothing,” she says.
According to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma), 7 000 survivors like Julius were relocated in Nsanje since last year. Most of them were from Makhanga. Some were shifted to Militoni Village on the West Bank of the Shire while others were repositioned to Osiyana on the East Bank.
Like Julius, Fanita Bulasha still lives in a temporary shelter.
“Tikadali pa msasa. With the rains fast approaching, we fear we may be dislodged again. The biggest problem, at the moment, is that we also have no food and there is no peace,” says Bulasha.
In August this year, 15 villagers nearly died when they ate yams (locally known as mipama) that were not properly cooked. Yams, if not properly cooked or roasted, are poisonous. As the villagers had no food, they resorted to eating yams after some people who relocated from Khonjeni in Thyolo suggested the same.
“In the end, the villagers had upset stomachs. They were vomiting heavily. They felt dizzy. I had to crash some charcoal, which I forced them to take as first aid. Then, they had to be taken to the hospital,” says Kalonga.
The chief says Julius, is one of the subjects who haunt her.
“She has no home. She is unfortunate because she is one of the people who came in later after we got some relief from government and well-wishers with cash, shelter and food. All she came with are two buckets and being elderly, I feel sorry for her. She is under my armpit and we help where we can,” she says.
The chief concurs with Bulasha that food is hard to get for the elderly like Julius. “When I give such subjects a cup of flour, another villager comes in with a bucket, which I share with the village. It is God who is seeing us through,” she says.
Kalonga says the future looks bleak. The villagers are failing to cultivate in the new settlements as they have to rent farmland.
“At Makhanga, we used to cultivate three times a year when the waters subsided. But even now, in September, the water levels are still high. We thought we could be trekking from here to Makhanga to cultivate before the rains but that is impossible this year as the area is still inundated,” she observes.
The new settlement has three types of dwelling places. Several, like Julius’, are simple black-sheeting and grass-thatched shelters, while others are metallic family tents.
The lucky ones, like 58-year-old Goodson Lodi, live in burnt brick houses, with iron sheets and cement floors. In his words, the house was built with funds from GiveDirectly Malawi, a charity which has operated in Malawi since 2018, providing assistance to 190 000 households in 11 districts and four cities.
“We were saved by God’s Grace from the raging waters. I rushed to higher ground and saw bodies being swept through the raging waters. Some fathers escaped while their children were washed away. It is further luck that I got funds to build a house here,” says Lodi.
In response to a questionnaire, GiveDirectly external relations senior manager Tom Mtenje said between December and July 966 households under Kalonga benefitted from an unconditional cash transfer of K1 280 000 under the Cash for Distributive Climate Justice Project with funding from the Scottish Government. A total of K3.4 billion was distributed to 2 700 households in 11 districts and four cities.
“This was an unconditional cash transfer [where] we delivered cash in three tranches to every household identified in the village including the elderly. We did not track how many elderly people chose to build a house with the transfer,” he said.
Mtenje reckons that not all communities affected by the cyclone benefitted. The beneficiaries, he says, were selected through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) and Nsanje District Council, who were willing to relocate to safer areas, consented to move to the new location and had started the relocation process.
This is where Julius and Bulasha missed it.
“We are actively seeking additional assistance to support the vulnerable households with capital to meet their needs, prevent negative coping strategies and rebuilding their families,” says Mtenje
He believes with a new global goal for climate finance to be agreed at the CoP 29 next month, a commitment will be made for own climate financing for the adaptation and mitigation of loss and damage. n
Next week, DoDMA responds to the issues raised by the relocated villagers. What do council officials say? Nonetheless, the resettled villagers say there are more problems than food and shelter.
