« Going north | Main | Arrival in Gorom »

October 30, 2006

Gorom Flood Update

On Saturday I went for a walk round town to look at the situation, and begin to talk to people. This photo is where I used to live – where the rubble is used to be my house before I moved out to our new piece of land.

Hope instead of despair
Everywhere I go, people are expressing thanks to the church for the help given. Everyone recognises that the help given by the church has been effective and significant. Local authorities too have expressed appreciation. It has been a great testimony to the compassion of God in Christ, and has helped thousands of people. As I talked with people, it is clear that, although many are still in hardship, there is not a sense of desperation, but of hope, and this has been put down largely to the timely help they have received.

Pastor Daniel and his team have done an excellent job in handling the money, the distribution, and in collaboration with local authorities. On behalf of the population of Gorom, he thanks you for your help, and for trusting the church with your aid. Today I also went to visit the town mayor, the chief of police, the commandant of the army, the “prefet” for the department, the gendarmerie director, the Social Action director, and various other local authorities who have been collaborating with the church. They all expressed their appreciation for the help given.

Aid Distribution and Ongoing Needs
The distribution of blankets and mats has been delayed, and will now happen this Friday. This will be a timely intervention as the cold season is about to start. After that, the general consensus seems to be that the time for immediate emergency aid is over, and we need a pause for reflection. The rains have finished, and the harvest is beginning to be gathered in. There is still an ongoing need, but we need to re-assess how and where to best allocate the remaining resources:

Among those affected by the flood and who lost their homes were people of all economic and physical condition. There are those who have the economic means to start re-building, or the physical strength to start making bricks for themselves. Others have no resource. Many of these have been grouped together in a “tent camp” under blue plastic tarpaulins provided by UNICEF.

Part of our next job will be to work with the local “Social Action” authorities to identify the neediest people. Others may not have lost their houses, but may have been already very vulnerable (some may not even have had a house to begin with), and the floods will have exacerbated this situation. We then need to think about the best way to help these people.

As we walked round town, everywhere were young men making mud bricks from the remains of their collapsed houses. It is great to see people taking the initiative to help themselves, but often they are re-building where floods are likely to happen again.

News on the Harvest
The harvest has not been good around Gorom this year. The flood washed away some fields. The subsequent rains were inadequate for the other fields, and then flocks of birds have eaten up a lot of what did actually grow. Some food will come in from the fields, and the better harvest in other areas will hopefully drive the price of grain down to ease up the situation. So it seems wise to cut down on food aid at this time. But more food aid will be necessary at the start of next rainy season.

Please pray as we seek the best way forward in an appropriate solution to all these things. Thank you. More soon.

Posted by Keith at October 30, 2006 09:22 PM

Comments

Posted by: Steve Hilsden at October 30, 2006 09:54 PM