By Prince Kurupati
March 2023 is one of the worst months in the history of Malawi. At the beginning of the month, the country was just experiencing its normal routine as the residents went about their day-to-day life in a normal fashion. However, as the month came to an end, tears of sorrow, despair and loss were trickling down on every Malawian citizen – well, at least for those who were fortunate to end the month alive. Those who were unfortunate – reports say at least 511 – were swept away by Cyclone Freddy. Cyclone Freddy is the third cyclone to hit Malawi in 13 months but undoubtedly the worst one. It has since “broke the world record for most accumulated cyclone energy, a measure based on a storm’s wind strength over its lifetime,” as reported by Al Jazeera.
While Malawians wept, what was quite noticeable from a distance in the early days when the cyclone was at its worst was the silence of neighbouring countries. Immediately after the cyclone hit the Nsanje district in southern Malawi, the hardest hit area, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera, appealed to the world for assistance stating that Malawi alone did not have the capacity to address the damage done by Cyclone Freddy. At the same time, President Chakwera also “declared a state of emergency in the affected districts and a subsequent period of 14 days of national mourning.”
Heeding President Chakwera’s public call for assistance in the immediate aftermath were several western nations and foreign organizations. Surprisingly, Malawi’s own African brothers needed a period of warming up before extending support to victims of Cyclone Freddy. With most victims in desperate need in the ‘now’, the delay in extending support to Malawi certainly aided in worsening the impact of the cyclone. Perhaps as an excusatory factor to neighbouring nations such as Mozambique and Zimbabwe, they too were affected by Cyclone Freddy and hence couldn’t do much to help when they also needed the help.
Showing support from lands far away were several international organizations which include the World Health Organization, Save the Children and Trocaire. Cyclone Freddy came at a time when Save the Children was already doing a huge job of saving Malawian children’s lives from the jaws of cholera. After Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi, Save the Children quickly extended its tentacles in helping all the affected. The move however stretched the organization’s resources as evidenced by Palal Areman; deputy operations team lead for Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit in Blantyre who said in a statement:
“The country was dealing with a big situation with the cholera outbreak and resources had been stretched. With Cyclone Freddy hitting, the normal healthcare routine is completely disrupted. Children are traumatized by the cyclone, they were brought to hospital with head injuries, broken limbs, and bruises, while others looked worried or had no family members.
“Temporary tents put up to treat cholera patients have been destroyed, putting medical services out of reach for many. I think in the long term with water disruption, the pipes broken and water contamination highly likely, cholera cases will most certainly go up.”
Immediately after the cyclone hit Malawi, the World Health Organization in a statement by its regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti quickly embarked on a resource pooling mission to gather resources to be used in alleviating the disaster. Its efforts were aided by the World Food Program which was already helping thousands in the country with food aid. The World Food Program said that the disaster brought about by Cyclone Freddy in Malawi exacerbated the country’s food insecurity and as such, it would help with food aid to the 500,000 displaced people.
Trocaire in partnership with the Catholic University of Malawi also extended immediate relief to Malawi. In its report following Cyclone Freddy, Trocaire said that it started monitoring the cyclone and offering support to Malawians through its “village protection committees and Chiefs to ensure adequate warnings were given to people living in areas that could potentially be impacted.” After it made landfall, “The Catholic University of Malawi, who partner with Trócaire through student climate justice clubs and advocacy around climate change, immediately mobilized its staff and vehicles to provide lifesaving support. They transported the injured people to the hospital and brought other displaced people to safer places for temporary shelter, while also taking those who died to the mortuary.”
Moreover, “Trócaire supported the Catholic University’s appeal for any in kind or cash assistance to the people of Ntauchira village. University staff and students conducted an assessment to ascertain the most urgent needs of survivors in the village, the hospital and the temporary shelters. They then procured the necessary items and assembled the packages. They worked tirelessly around the clock to get everything packed. Large quantities of donations in the form of food, clothing and kitchen utensils were also packed.”
The deafening silence of Malawi’s African brothers only came when the cyclone’s impact was receding. The leading African countries to provide aid to Malawi are Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
**Culled from April Issue of PAV Magazine
