Plan helps thousands of flood-hit Zimbabweans

Residents on the banks of the flooded Zambezi river PHOTO: Reuters/Grant Lee Neuenburg courtesy www.alertnet.org

24 January 2008: Thousands of Zimbabwean children forced from their homes by the country’s worst floods for more than a century have been thrown a US$135,000 lifeline by Plan.

Plan staff, working in partnership with the World Food Programme, are distributing emergency aid to 8,300 displaced people.

Aid includes food, blankets, clothing and cooking items and Plan is working to improve access to clean water and promote hygiene in areas worst affected by the floods.

Education kits

Plan is also providing basic education kits to children whose schooling has been disrupted and working to improve awareness of child protection issues among displaced families. Children caught up in natural disasters are particularly vulnerable to abuse.

The aid has been paid for by donations to Plan’s appeal launched in response to the floods and money from Plan’s emergency fund.

Houses and crops destroyed

In the Chipinge area, which has been hardest hit by the flooding, Plan staff report that many families have been displaced and houses and crops have been destroyed. Dozens of latrines have collapsed and boreholes and wells providing drinking water have been contaminated.

Several schools have reported damage. 14 classrooms and a school garden in Chisuma were destroyed and Nyamukwakwa primary school has lost books and equipment.

Record rainfall

The current rains are the worst to fall in the southern African country in the last 127 years, according to Zimbabwe’s national meteorological service. Floods have caused further misery for people already facing rampant inflation and severe economic hardship.

Zimbabwe is one of 4 southern African countries to be hit by floods during the current rainy season. The others are Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

Make a donation

Please help us assist those affected by making a donation via one our fundraising countries:

Canada | UK