We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/ScriptMalawi Storm Victims Appeal (TV)
HEADLINE: Malawi Flood Victims Appeal for Assistance
PUBLISHED: Thursday, 02/10/2022 12:20 pm
BYLINE: Lameck Masina
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Nsanje, Malawi
VIDEOGRAPHER: Lameck Masina
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER: Marcus Harton
SCRIPT EDITORS: Schearf, BR
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO X
VID APPROVED BY: BR
TRT: 2:37
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: A companion radio version will be available))
(INTRO))
[[Parts of Malawi are still recovering from January's Tropical Storm Ana, which left scores dead across Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. UN agencies in Malawi have been providing help to people displaced into camps, but those affected say thousands more need shelter, food, and clean water. Lameck Masina reports from Nsanje, Malawi. ]]
((NARRATOR))
Hanna Gift fled her home to the Bangula evacuation camp in late January after floods from Tropical Storm Ana washed away all her property and livestock.
But the single mother of four says the situation in the camp is awful.
((Hanna Gift, Flood Victim, (Chichewa, 13 secs))
“Life here is very unbearable. Since I came here, food has been a problem. We’re only given one cup of maize flour per family. Sometimes we go to sleep without food.”
((NARRATOR))
Flood victim Seleniya Gazilina says there is no way to earn money.
((Seleniya Gazilina, Flood Victim, (Chichewa, 13 secs))
“We even have nowhere to do some piece work to get money to buy our own food. All the gardens here have been washed away. So, no one can offer us work to do in their gardens.”
((NARRATOR))
Gazilina and Gift are among nearly a million Malawians affected by floods in more than half the country’s 28 districts.
33 people were killed.
UN agencies in Malawi and donors have started providing aid to victims but say additional funds are needed to assist victims.
((Rudolf Schwenk, Acting UN Malawi Rep (English 27 secs))
“As UNICEF we had mobilized around half a million dollars or $500,000, already prepositioned and procured supplies because obvious ly we had planned for disasters so were able to utilize that. Of course, we are utilizing additional funds from existing resources but we also trying to raise funds with donors now, highlighting the importance of bringing help to families in need here in Malawi.”
((NARRATOR))
Malawi lost a third of its electricity when the storm damaged a hydropower station.
Environmental experts blame climate change, deforestation, and soil degradation for worsening the floods.
((Paul Turbull, World Food Program Malawi, (English, 25 secs))
“Now there is so much forest cover been taken away, the only solution is really to rehabilitate those hill sides. We call it watershed management. And there are very clear techniques to make sure that the damage that happens when you have got very heavy rainfall is reduced; you dig trenches, you plant trees, you terrace the land, you use right crops at a rights time.”
((NARRATOR))
Meanwhile, Malawi’s weather experts warn more flooding is possible in the northern and central parts of the country as heavy rain is expected over the weekend.
Lameck Masina, for VOA News, Nsanje, Malawi
NewsML Media TopicsWeather, Disaster, Accident and Emergency Incident, Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 10, 2022 15:50 EST
Byline Lameck Masina
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
