« Yellowcake research | Main | Glen Dimplex »

October 02, 2006

Gorom-Gorom Flood Pictures

Gorom-Gorom is always finding original ways to chew up its inhabitants. On 9 August 2006, heavy rains broke a dam and flooded large sections of the town.

This building was a grocery shop owned by a North African merchant. “You should have seen it,” said one eye-witness. “Hundreds of packets of spaghetti went bobbing off on the surface of the water.”
	Mamadou’s family compound consisted of seventeen mud-brick houses. Sixteen of them fell down.
This lady told us that the water in her house came up to her armpits. “I carried my goats on my head, one by one, taking them to higher ground.”
	An old woman surveys the remains of her house. “This is the third time in five years that my house has fallen down. A poor person can not keep rebuilding.”
Pastor Pascal of the ‘Deeper Life’ church in Gorom-Gorom found it hard to sleep during the nights following the flood. “Whenever I closed my eyes I would see water.”
	The displaced families stayed in local primary schools, but the school year starts tomorrow so they have been told to move on. Some are now staying with relatives in the bush. Others have moved into UNICEF tents like this one.
As the rain fell, people asked a local marabout whether they should abandon their houses. He spat on his staff and placed it on the ground. “If the water arrives at this point, our town is doomed,” he said. Minutes later the staff was swept away by the flood.
	Several old men refused to leave their houses, preferring to have the roof cave in on them than to brave the flood waters. They were forcibly evicted by local gendarmes.
All over town people are making mud-bricks to rebuild their houses. They have been greatly encouraged by the gifts of food and mosquito nets that have come to them via Under the Acacias.
	Remember the woman who carried her goats on her head? She is paying these lads to build her a new house. Meanwhile, those who cannot afford to rebuild are waiting to see what help they will receive from the government.
This old man has had a new house built for him by his sons. It is one room, only just long enough for him to lie down in, but at least it is a roof over his head.
	Isa (guitarist, second left) was due to be married in August, but his house fell down so he postponed the wedding. He now spends his days playing the guitar at other people’s weddings and making bricks for his new house.

Posted by sahelsteve at October 2, 2006 10:46 PM