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Last year southern Africa was met with Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Freddy, a powerful and deadly cyclone lasting more than five weeks in February and March, affecting five countries.
In Madagascar, with strong winds Tropical Cyclone Freddy made landfall on the eastern coast, ripping off roofs of houses and important buildings such as schools. In response to the disaster, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation (BTCF) partnered with Madagascar Lions Club (MLC) to distribute food parcels that weighed from 37kg to 60kg to 4,973 households and an orphanage, totaling 25,768 individuals. Distribution lasted for a month in 10 different locations, MLC together with the Food Bank volunteers assisted in packing each set of food parcels.
After crossing through Madagascar, and intensifying in the Mozambique channel, Cyclone Freddy entered Mozambique twice and then made its way to the southern tip of Malawi.
From late April to mid-May in Mozambique, BTCF distributed building equipment, Tzu Chi eco-blankets, 39kg worth of food and daily necessities to support them for a month and 3kg worth of seeds and equipment to 12,638 households (approx. 89,250 individuals), mobilizing 3,406 volunteer-shifts to assist in the large distributions.
In Malawi, five days of heavy rainfalls caused the mud to soften resulting in homes collapsing, in response to the needs of the locals, from mid-May to this year, built 177 bricked houses and successfully handed them over to residents. In addition, BTCF also provided blankets and food parcels to 1,500 households.
BTCF hired local builders to assist with the construction, simultaneously, a volunteer group of potential young adults was formed to assist and develop their carpentry, house building, welding and other skills so that they will be able to assist in future reconstruction projects. Women were also a part of the potential individuals as they are normally expected to assist with meal preparation. Many of the volunteers shared that they were happy to have this experience, even though they do not have a lot of money, they can use their skills to help others and also open their workshop in the future.
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is a global non-profit humanitarian organization founded in 1966 by Buddhist nun Dharma Master Cheng Yen. Its missions of medicine, charity, education, and humanistic culture have brought relief to 133 countries. The heart of Tzu Chi is embedded in its name: in Chinese, “Tzu” means compassion and “Chi” relief, to relieve the suffering of those in need while creating a better world for all through compassion, love and hope. For more information, visit global.tzuchi.org. For additional information and media inquiries, please write to Sandy Lu, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, [email protected].
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Source link : https://reliefweb.int/report/malawi/cyclone-freddy-relief-efforts-rebuilding-communities-southern-africa
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Publish date : 2024-03-06 08:00:00
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