Worsening the situation of family members, two weeks after Batsirai, Cyclone Enmati hit the region. Near the beach, the family has been living in a UNICEF-provided tent in a lot. They average one meal a day according to the people living in the tent.
Menja said from the makeshift encampment, refererrinng to a Catholic aid group “Before, we had foreigners who were taking care of us-sisters”, but once they left everyone has found themselves alone.”
Across the floor of the shelter, he puts his hand on his daughter’s shoulders and looks at the pools of water stagnating and according to the inhabitants about 200 people crowd at night into the tent, which regularly floods when it rains. To elevate their sleeping places, some have used mats and debris.
According to Menja, who worked as a house guard before Batsirai “Look at the flies that we are (experiencing) every day, this is our daily life and there will be diseases.” Placed by Batirai, at least 121 people were killed and more than 100,000 other displaced and overall, the air community has said that there have been a total of 205 fatalities and 172,000 people displaced by the five major storms to hit Madagascar since the beginning of 2022.
It can be seen that aid agencies like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have been scrambling to provide water purification kits as well as there has been threat of waterborne diseases looming. Other humanitarian groups and the government provide some assistance and cash disbursement but still, residents say they feel left behind.
Published by: Shivani Bhalke
Edited by: Subbuthai Padma
