Red Cross in community safe shelter programme
Disaster-prone communities from Traditional Authority Chowe in Mangochi will soon be resilient to floods, drought and cholera.
This follows an initiative by Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) to embark on participatory approach for safe shelter and awareness (Passa) concept, which is a toolkit of eight activities such as historical profile, community mapping, safe and unsafe shelters to empower communities to identify safe shelter-related problems in their localities.
In an interview on Wednesday at Machemba Village during a meeting on the impact and frequency of hazards, MRCS project assistant Chisomo Banda said her organisation is keen to reduce levels of disasters in the area.
She said: “With this model, communities are capable of providing sustainable solutions to safe shelter through optimum utilisation of local resources, skills and materials.”
Banda said construction of strong houses in disaster-prone areas can reduce injuries, loss of lives and property during disasters.
“We are on a mission to empower community members to move to a safe place or build structures that will ably withstand diverse weather conditions,” he said.
Banda said it is imperative for people to have safer shelters since disasters, adding that MRCS has rolled out the model in all the areas due to its vulnerability to disasters.
A community member, Jafali Kananji, who is also tasked with disseminating the model, said they will roll-out the initiative to ensure that communities construct safe shelters to withstand disasters.
