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August 23, 2006
Gorom-Gorom Flooding Update - 23 August
Background
The pictures show Gorom-Gorom before and after the flood.
Update
Things are happening quite quickly, now thankfully. Because of the delay in being able to collect the money, our distribution has been put back to Friday. But this will work well, as we are co-ordinating with Christian Aid and others who are doing similar distributions on Monday and today, Wednesday, to ensure that everyone in need is covered.
Members of my home church, Glenwood Church, have made a very generous contribution to the work, and Samartian's Purse and Food for the Hungry are also supporting us in our efforts.
Personal stories from Gorom-Gorom
Via Andy in Gorom:
"Everybody says thank God that this flood happened during the day. It seems like most people were able to get their family and belongings out of the houses before they fell in. But some weren't able to save anything, "not even a spoon," as my neighbor Ibrahim said. These would include people who were out of town during the catastrophe, including our Mossi neighbors, and the owner of the corner store, Adrouhaman (called "Alfa"), who lost everything in his store, including an expensive stock of cement and paint."
"Amadou the mason... worked all morning to protect his courtyard and his neighbors' by digging channels and building bulwarks of earth. In the end, the water levels raised too high... by which time he was too exhausted to get anything out of the house, even a change of clothes. He spent the following week wearing the same pair of shorts and torn shirt--here it's important to note that grown men don't wear shorts in public here, and people take pride in their clothing being clean and in good shape. His baby died two days after the flood, "still on his mother's back." He says it was malaria, but he thinks that being exposed to the cold and wet may of brought on the illness. "I don't understand why God would do this," he said."
More photos of the flood damage, taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers, can be found here
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom
Posted by Keith at August 23, 2006 12:11 PM
Comments
All of this is heartbreaking. Thank you for letting us know about it.
Posted by: Ruth at August 24, 2006 12:00 AM