Flood victims appeal for food, shelter

OVER 800 people who were displaced by floods and the effects of Cyclone Dineo and are accommodated at Sipepa Transit Camp here are in need of food, ablution facilities and tents, amid growing concerns of diarrhoeal outbreaks.

Speaking to journalists during a National Aids Council- organised media tour of the transit camp yesterday, Sipepa Hospital sister-in-charge Merjury Maphosa said temporary toilets that were put up at the onset of the camp were almost full.

“The environmental department has warned that the current temporary toilets are almost full, so we need to have another site and procure some temporary toilets,” she said.

“So, with that we are afraid of diarrhoeal outbreaks in the camp.”

Sister-in-charge Maphosa said the number of outpatients treated for various ailments, chief among them abdominal discomforts, upper respiratory infections and headaches, increased in recent weeks.

She said last week alone, they attended to over 500 patients, a number they used to attend to in a month.

Sister-in-charge Maphosa said fears of disease outbreaks were growing because of overcrowding.

She said the camp had about 210 families, all of whom were accommodated in only 69 tents.

“People are not staying as families, we have just grouped them two to three families or four families according to the size of the tent,” she said.

“Which also poses a threat to public health if any one of the victims develops an infectious or contagious disease.”

Sister-in-charge Maphosa said at some point they had a victim who was diagnosed of Tuberculosis and they had to quarantine him for two weeks, while he was on treatment.

She said owing to the huge numbers of people turning up for treatment, they were running out of some key medical stocks such as anti-diarrhoeals.

Sister-in-charge Maphosa said they had enough mealie meal and cooking oil to last up to three months — the period they were expected to be in camp before relocation.

She said because of the unfavourable living conditions, some victims whose homes were not destroyed much were going back to their flood prone homes every now and then to check on their livestock.

Some of the victims interviewed expressed concern on the living condi- tions at the camp.

“If I had a home to go back to, I would have gone back a long time ago,” said Mr Lameck Mabhena.

“When you are home you can fend for the family through various ways such as working in people’s fields and so on.

“But this is all impossible because our homes were destroyed and we spend most of the time sitting here in the camp where we have little choice of food. Imagine every meal we have from morning to evening consists of cow peas.”

The villagers were airlifted to the transit camp on February 19 after their homes were marooned and some destroyed by flooding.

Tsholotsho was hardest hit by the f loods and Government has since launched an appeal of up to $200 million to assist flood victims countrywide.