In recent months, Tanzania, along with other East African countries, has been severely affected by violent floods.
CADIS Tanzania and CADIS International immediately mobilised an emergency operation. Relief operations were focused in the district of Rufiji. Below is the report of the intervention released by CADIS Tanzania team.
Implementation
The CADIS team met on May 6, 2024 to discuss and agree on the activities to be carried out. It was agreed to visit the affected people in Rufiji again to know their urgent needs. On May 9, 2024, a team of five arrived at the area to meet the relevant authorities and visit the affected people. The large area of Rufiji was still under water and difficult to reach. After visiting the IDP camp at Chumbi, we were invited to visit the District Commissioner, Major Gowele, at his office at Ikwiriri. He then linked us to the District Welfare Officer (DWO) Dr. Khamis and Ms. Batuli Mituro who were instructed to give us the names of the affected women and children in the area of Chumbi and Muhoro wards.
On May 23, we came back to Rufiji. We learned that there was another disaster due to the storm Hidaya that caused flooding at the Muhoro camp. All the evacuees had to be moved to Chumbi camp, thus the latter was overcrowded and without enough lighting and power. We were told that the camp needed electricity in the tents, rice and personal hygiene supplies such as soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and clothes.
The camp had 204 evacuees occupying nine crowded mini tents. Most of them were women and children; men were less than 10. We were told that we could give all the supplies to the individuals in the camp, but since food was prepared together, we handed them over at the store in Ikwiriri. So, we went to the shops in Ikwiriri town and bought the supplies.
We contacted an electrician and bought the needed electrical supplies for the camp. Each of the tents had 5 cubicles, so they needed 45 electrical bulbs, wires, sockets, extensions, etc.
We bought 4 tonnes (4,000 kilograms) of rice and handed it over at the store in Ikwiriri town. The rest were distributed to the survivors at the Chumbi camp.
CADIS Tanzania was also able to raise funds for clothing for women and children. The team visited Ikwiriri on May 28, 2024 and handed over the supplies to the survivors including 4 tonnes (4,000 kilograms) of rice.
Challenges
The biggest challenge of this operation was the lack of funds. The programme got only a quarter of the needed fund. There are IDPs students who are living in school buildings who need a lot of help and supplies, especially the female students, with hygiene kits. There are those with communicable diseases who were not accepted in the IDP camps due to risk of transmission of diseases. The building needed more latrines and many other activities as indicated in the project document. As the people gradually returned to their normal lives, there is still a danger of eruption of waterborne diseases, schistosomiasis, and malaria, due to stagnant waters around their areas.
Conclusion
CADIS Tanzania has years of experience in humanitarian assistance to disaster victims, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and local communities across Tanzania. To date, a number of people affected by disasters have benefited from the support of CADIS in Tanzania, and the Rufiji floods disaster have added to the list. CADIS Tanzania has strong working relationships with local communities in the country, including those in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Ifakara, Mlimba, and now Rufiji. The DC of Rufiji has called several times to thank CADIS Tanzania for helping and promised to do the same in writing once the situation has cleared.
Enormous challenges still persist in Rufiji as the district is recovering from one of its worst humanitarian crises. Hundreds of victims are without home and food, thus nowhere to return to or call home. Some will be taken in the homes of friends and relatives; a number will remain without help and most are single mothers. We were told some were denied a place in the camp because of communicable diseases such as Tuberculosis (TB), these will need follow-up and access to assistance. The community will need community awareness in terms of public health, nutrition, clean & safe water use and sanitation. In view of the gravity of the situation, the humanitarian disaster caused by the flood in Rufiji is far from being over.
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