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September 25, 2009

Ouagadougou Flood Update Burkina Faso

Another letter from Alan Dixon in Ouagadougou. If you would like to make a donation which will benefit homeless families and/or reconstruction, you can make a secure online donation here. In the box titled 'Missionary or Project Name', please type BF General 93918 Ouagadougou Flood Relief. Thank you so much.

It is now three weeks since the flood. Things have stabilized somewhat and basic needs are being increasingly met for those who have taken refuge in government and unofficial shelters. Efforts are being made to improve sanitary conditions and bring medical treatment. In one centre we visited last week, nurses were making regular visits to treat malaria and diarrhea. In another center portable latrines were being built that would later be moved to other locations. Local governments now have 88 official sites with about 115,000 people currently receiving food, lodging, basic necessities and some medial care.

The majority of those who have lost their homes were located in two types of areas. Many of the homes flooded were in older, well established areas, located near Ouagadougou’s main waterway which includes an interlinked system of three dams. These dams greatly overflowed their boundaries inundating homes, businesses and other structures on both the north and south sides of the dams over a wide area, collapsing most mud-brick structures and damaging others. As a flood of this magnitude is a very rare occurrence most of these people will likely rebuild in the same place, advisedly with cement block on concrete foundations.

The other areas greatly affected have been non-developed areas on the outskirts of the city where most construction is in mud brick, without significant foundations and where water-control structures are minimal. Normal watercourses greatly overflowed their normal boundaries on September 1, inundating wide areas for several hours causing widespread collapse of water-logged mud brick structures. We visited two of these areas last week, one in Somgandé where one EE-SIM church was almost completely destroyed and another in Goudrin where another EE-SIM church is located. Widespread destruction of mud brick homes occurred in areas near swollen waterways and where water collected. In many areas devastation is total. One of the organizers at one of the government centres where we have been distributing basic necessities pointed out what used to be his home, now nothing but a pile of mud. He said that some personal effects remained under the pile but that he had not had the courage or the time to continue to dig for them. He and his family are housed at the school nearby. The government is urging people in these non-developed areas not to rebuild but is seeking a more permanent and adequate solution to their housing needs.

The new school year starts on October 1st and the government is anxious to relocate those who are currently staying in schools, the large majority of the 115,000 people being sheltered. People were expected to have begun moving to the first of the tented sites by Tuesday September 22, priority being given to moving people out of the secondary schools first. New temporary schools are to be erected as part of the tent cities.

In cooperation with 5 local churches and another local Christian organization, we have been able to purchase and distribute $20,000 worth of basic necessities, food, and medicine in 10 shelters. In two of the neighborhoods heavily affected, we (SIM and EE-SIM churches) have been able to intervene directly in the neighborhoods affected, distributing another $5,000 worth of food and other basic necessities. We are continuing to evaluate needs and responding as we are able. We will be monitoring the movement of those being sheltered, from the schools to the tent-cities being/to be erected, to see what needs we can effectively respond to. As the rains normally continue into October, it will likely be another month before reconstruction of homes will begin on a large scale.

Please continue to pray for wisdom for us and the churches as we identify needs and seek to respond to them Pray for wisdom in decisions regarding rebuilding and as we seek to identify and help those most vulnerable and needy.

Alan

Posted by sahelsteve at September 25, 2009 09:10 AM