newsletter | ruth and mika's new life
2024-09-13
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blantyre, malawi, september 13 (xinhua)newsletter | ruth and mika's new life
xinhua news agency reporter xu ruiqing
in march 2019, cyclone idai hit southern malawi hard, affecting nearly a million people. ruth milyas and mika john, two local residents, both suffered serious damage to their homes. how are they doing now?
ruth, 30, is a resident of kaleso village in nsanje district in southern malawi. "we are still using some of the materials donated by china," she said, adding that the assistance from china helped the locals get out of the shadow of the disaster.
in march 2019, ruth's house and belongings were destroyed in the disaster, and she and her family spent several months in a temporary resettlement camp. today, sturdy brick houses have been built in kaleso village.
ruth said that when she was in the temporary resettlement camp, her family received soybeans, flour, mosquito nets, buckets, soap, etc. "these aids from china solved our urgent needs and provided basic security for our lives. without these things, we would not be able to get through the difficulties."
after the disaster, the chinese government quickly provided emergency humanitarian assistance to malawi. in addition to assisting malawi in flood control and disaster relief work, it also actively participated in post-disaster reconstruction and helped the victims return home.
in order to further help the affected children and families, the chinese government provided financial assistance to the united nations children's fund (unicef) malawi office through the framework of the south-south cooperation assistance fund. from october 2019 to may 2021, the financial assistance covers all project areas carried out locally, such as drinking water, child health and nutrition, health education and training, etc., aiming to help the affected people and health workers improve their response capabilities.
mika, 20, lives in terere village, nsanje district. when the disaster struck, her family was not spared, their farmland was destroyed and they were short of food. now, her new home is not far from the entrance of the village, and her son often runs and plays in front of the house. at noon, mika cooks porridge with cornmeal, vegetable grains, eggs and sugar.
mika said that it was through health education training that she learned to make nutritious meals with simple ingredients and always pay attention to personal and family hygiene. her family uses mosquito nets every day to prevent mosquito bites and malaria. she supervises the whole family to wash their hands carefully and store drinking water in buckets. "the disaster has passed, but the impact of china and unicef's assistance is still ongoing."
it is reported that china and unicef also provided community nutrition management and intervention for more than 4,100 infants and young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and conducted acute malnutrition screening for many children.
mary mtimabi is a trained local health worker responsible for monitoring the health of nearly 1,700 villagers in terere village. "the chinese government has provided us with the necessary training and equipment to enhance our service capabilities. now, we conduct health screenings in the village regularly," she said.
it is reported that the aid projects of china and unicef benefited 200,000 local residents in 12 disaster-stricken areas in malawi.
gilbert chapwetka, director of the nsanje district health and social services bureau, said that china helped rebuild the water supply and sanitation facilities damaged in the floods, improved local people's livelihood and enhanced their ability to cope with disasters.
in addition, with china's support, more than 80,000 disaster-affected children received stationery, textbooks, nutritional supplements, and more than 170,000 people received basic health services.
gerrit maritz, acting representative of unicef malawi office, said that the assistance from china and unicef has provided disaster-prone communities with the knowledge and resources they need to cope with extreme climate, enabling them to be better prepared when future disasters occur.
