Floods in Gatumba, families hope they are not waiting for Godot

Destroyed homes, dispersed families, disrupted businesses, temporary relocation, seem to be the hot potato in Gatumba these last weeks, as the area was hit again by flooding. The feeling of despair knocks you over once there. You can read it on the face of people who lost their shelters, who saw their normal life running through waters.

Concessa, a 32 years old mother of five, has been relocated into a school with her family after the heavy rain destroyed her home.  More than one family has to squeeze in one class, with small babies in their arms. They lament that there are not appropriate toilets. Sometimes, they go in the open air, which puts them at high risk of infections and other illnesses.

"I’m so worried about my seven months old baby Keza, especially when it rains. During the night, my children can be wracked by severe cold, as there are no house windows where we are. During the day, I can hardly wash her clothes, and her sisters' and brothers’ clothes. There is no running water, we have to buy it. How can we prevent from COVID 19 in these conditions?".

Before the borders were closed due to the pandemic Covid 19, in Gatumba, Concessa used to sell cassava in DR Congo, in Uvira, and Kiromoni. Basket on her head, she crossed the border, with the hope in her heart that she will bring back the bread for her family. "All I have to feed my family now, is these mandarins that I sell, in the street", she said.

"I could make profit of 20,000 thousand per week, but now I am left with less than 1, OOO thousands (less than 1USD). But actually, I can’t even make savings for the VSLA (Village Savings and Loaning’s Associations). I can’t even afford to buy sanitary pads for my oldest daughter,13years old, Chanelle. I feel hopeless. My home is destroyed, and I can’t run my business as I used to. My greatest wish? Having a roof out of my head, and regain a minimum of our normal lifestyle".

"As you can see, our house is surrounded by the flood, and sometimes water comes inside. I’m afraid to deliver the baby in these conditions. I have nowhere to take my children if ever our house is washed out” said Chantal, 29years. Chantal has 3children, and she is pregnant.

“When it rains, I have to wake up my children, and we all stand up almost the whole night.”

We are not enabled to prevent from COVID 19

Martianna, a 52-year-old woman from Mushasha 2 zone, one of the severely affected regions, had a compound made up of 2 small houses. With her 10 children, they now have no other choice than squeezing in the smallest house. She is obliged to share her tiny mattress with her children… down on the ground. Impossible to share a bed with his wife and ten children, her husband had to beg for a shelter in the neighborhood.  When I found her in the VSLA activity, she was counting her little income, from her small business.

"Before the flood, I could make a 30 000 bif profit per week, from the sorghum I usually sell. But today, with the little that has not been washed away by rain, I hardly get 1 000 bif to feed my family. Even the market where I used to sell my sorghum was devastated", she says, sorrowfully.

Women involved in VSLA in Gatumba are complaining about insufficient savings they have so far, amid of other shortcomings floods led them through. However, though the sinking of their income seems to be their top priority, they are also concerned about their health and proper sanitation within their un-chosen new life conditions;

 "I fear to dig into the soil in order to have latrines, as the water is just two feet under the ground", says Marianna. With no running water, no proper toilets, we cannot help ourselves to prevent COVID 19. As for me, I have to share my tiny bed with my 10children, we cannot respect the social distancing recommended."