The morning started on a very sad note, hearing from our hardworking technician Silvestre, who had been stranded the first days on a roof.
“From our side things do not look well. As the waters lowered slightly on Friday, we decided to enter the water and escape from Chokwe into Chiaquelane with the family. This way we hope to escape from the floods that are supposed to persist during the week according to local news reports. One of the biggest problems affecting us now is hunger and long queues to access the fresh water fountain.
When the waters started flooding the village we took refuge on the roof of cement houses together with the owners of these houses, as the simpler [non-brick] family huts started crumbling down. As we were still on the roof when the water level started lowering, some of the villagers at street level went looting around and stole many of the goods they could find, including my own. All my belongings were taken, even the metal plates to cover my house, as I had brought only some clothes with me.
To leave from Chókwe to Chiaquelene was not easy either… people with a car are renting transportation and while I had close to nothing I had to do it because people will always pay to save their lives. Please help us find the means to get food as we cannot cope with our hunger much longer… “
Since this morning, ALG made contact with an old partner in neighboring Chiaquelane, Sister Isaura, who has agreed to help us. It is an area still protected from the floods where our Portuguese sister charity UPG sponsored projects in the past.
Together with Brother Licinio, Sister Isaura is trying to reach out to Silvestre and so many others to provide them support. Silvestre may have access to a temporary house from a friend to host him, his wife, and his little daughters in the next few hours. We are hopeful that food also reaches him before end of the day, but our efforts to distribute goods remain limited by the difficulties in travel.
Help our emergency appeal by making your donation here: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/algfloodemergency
Every Little Gesture Counts!