TONNY ONYULO reports on how church leaders are acting to bring aid to those impacted by the devastating storm…
Nairobi, Kenya
Church leaders in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique have continued to help the victims of Tropical Cyclone Freddy since it struck in late February, killing more than 600 people and displacing thousands of others.
However, police and authorities say the death could exceed 1,200 in Malawi and other countries as the hope of finding survivors dwindle daily. The search operations with sniffer dogs have been going on to try and find more bodies in the rubble.
Anglican Bishop Carlos Matsinhe, of Libombos Diocese, delivers relief items to victims of Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique. PICTURE: Anglican Diocese of Libombos.
The deadly storm landed first in Madagascar on 21st February and moved towards southern Mozambique on 24th February. It spent several days bringing heavy rain and floods in the two countries before moving back across the Indian Ocean. On 11th March, the cyclone moved to southern Malawi, affecting 14 regions.
The cyclone, which has been taunted as one of the longest and deadliest, has flattened homes, destroyed crops, swept away anything on its way, including roads and bridges, and damaged telecommunication and infrastructures, including schools, hospitals, markets, and churches.
“We were sleeping only to realise the flood was sweeping away our house. I woke up quickly, and I couldn’t save anyone. Everyone was trying to run and save themselves from the raging flood. We tried to run, but water swept some of my children and neighbours.”
– Moses Mvula, a resident of Zomba in southern Malawi.
Moses Mvula, a resident from Zomba, a city in southern Malawi, said he lost his two children in the middle of the night when water erupted from the ground and the mountain and swept his house and all his animals away.
“We were sleeping only to realise the flood was sweeping away our house,” said the father of five by phone from southern Malawi, where he is taking refuge with his family in a church compound. “I woke up quickly, and I couldn’t save anyone. Everyone was trying to run and save themselves from the raging flood. We tried to run, but water swept some of my children and neighbours.”
Mvula, 48, who owned an electronic shop in Zomba, said he lost everything to flooding water, including his livelihood, and appealed to wellwishers to intervene and assist them with relief items.
“We are really suffering here because we have no food, clothes, or bedding,” he lamented. “There are also no medicines in case someone falls sick. We are also worried about contracting cholera because we don’t have clean drinking water, and human faeces are everywhere.”
Young boys carry plastic as they look for items to salvage from the Nasolo river in Ndirande township in Blantyre, Malawi, on 15th March, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Eldson Chagara
The situation has moved churches in the three countries to start raising money and collecting relief items from donors to assist victims of the heavy flood. The church leaders have also allowed the victims to seek shelter in churches as they find ways to resettle them elsewhere once the cyclone stops.
In Malawi, the Catholic Church and other denominations are providing food, shelter, clothes, medicine, and other relief materials for people affected by the cyclone.
Archbishop George Desmond Tambala, of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe in Malawi, said that since the cyclone hit the country on 11th March, his congregants and other people of goodwill have been raising money every day and especially on Sunday during the Mass to ensure victims can receive essential items like food, clothes, shelter, and beddings.
“The mobilisation of resources is going on, and we urge everyone to stand with our brothers who are suffering as a result of the cyclone,” said Archbishop Tambala, noting that he had already mobilised priests from 46 parishes in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital city, to raise funds during Mass and send it directly to the response teams in the southern part of the country to help victims.
Archbishop Thomas Luke Msusa, of the Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre, where cyclone has hit hard, continues visiting victims, praying with them, providing psychosocial support, and donating relief items.
“We are doing everything we can to assist the victims. We have mobilised funds and relief items to distribute to the victims,” he said, detailing that they are donating items such as beans, maize flour, bales of soya pieces, clothes, mosquito nets, soap, blankets, and cooking oil to each affected person. “However, we are appealing for more help to reach everyone and save every life.”
Archbishop Msusa told Sight that he is giving hope to the victims that God still loves them despite the horrible experience they have witnessed after losing their loved ones and their properties, including homes destroyed by the heavy flood and storms.
“I am encouraging them to commit to God and never give up,” he advised. “God understands their situation, and He will never leave them alone. He will be with them during this difficult time. I am urging all the affected people to have hope for the future as we work hard to support them.”
Standing amidst the wreckage caused by Cyclone Freddy, Zambezia Province, Mozambique. PICTURE: Catholic Diocese of Zambezia.
Religious leaders in Mozambique, where Cyclone Freddy has killed more than 165 people and left a trail of destruction, are supporting families that have been affected by providing shelter in their church compounds, food, blankets, and other relief items.
Maria Joao Budula, a United Methodist district superintendent in Mozambique, appealed for more help from people of goodwill, saying the cyclone displaced thousands of residents in Zambezia, the second largest and most densely populated province in Mozambique.
Rev Budula, who oversees the Zambezia region, said most residents are still terrified and worried about further floods and landslides. He said that the situation had forced some residents to move to higher grounds or relocate to neighbouring places for fear of being swept away by floods again.
“Some chapels now serve as resettlement centres because people lost everything during floods, including their homes and properties, and had nowhere to go,” he said, thanking God for sparing the lives of many residents, including his congregants, who were also affected by the cyclone. “We are helping the affected individuals with essential items, and we appeal for more help from anyone willing to stand with our brothers and sisters.”
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In Madagascar, the church is still responding to the needs of those affected by the cyclone. Church leaders said they were determined to continue assisting the victims long-term to ensure they recover and rebuild their lives.
The southern African nation of more than 28 million lost more than 17 people due to the storm, and the storm’s passage displaced thousands of residents.
Heavy floods in Toliara, a town in south-western Madagascar, destroyed several churches and schools, leaving residents with nowhere to take refuge after their homes were destroyed. The church leaders have been appealing for well-wishers’ support to provide the affected families with food, shelter, and other relief items. They are also urging friends and partners to help them reconstruct destroyed churches so that they can resume prayers.
“We should hold everyone affected by floods in our prayers, especially in Toliara, where the cyclone has affected Christian communities and churches,” said Godfrey Chiwaya, an itinerant preacher, ministering in the region. “I hear that relief items are not reaching every affected person because of scarcity.”
“I urge everyone to contribute something small to help the victims because they lost everything during the floods,” he added. “We can only show the love of Christ by assisting each other in times of crisis like this one.”
