Shen Yanwu donates relief items to cyclone victims

Rose Amin, a vendor and resident of Ndirande Township in the commercial city of Blantyre, Malawi, is among the displaced and destitute people now residing in classrooms at Namalimwe Primary School in the city suburbs. This is because her house, along with many others, was destroyed by Cyclone Freddy, which wreaked havoc across the country in mid-March. 

According to Amin, she is one of the lucky ones to narrowly escape with her life. 

“It started raining and I rushed to the market to take care of my merchandise. When I returned after heavy rains, I found that my house was not there. It was swept away by rains, together with everything in it. Then I came here [to the school],” she told ChinAfrica.  

Good Samaritans 

According to Amin, the people at the school had not eaten for two days and were fast losing hope of getting food, as the cyclone damage continued to hamper rescue efforts. 

Later on the third day she saw trucks arrive with relief items. The trapped survivors were impressed to find that it was members of the local Chinese community who had come to their rescue, after hearing about their plight from others. 

They brought a large quantities of goods that included staple food like maize flour, eggs, bottled water, blankets and bread. 

Shen Yanwu, chairperson of the local Blantyre Chinese community, said the level of destruction forced them to intervene. “We were touched by the destruction that Cyclone Freddy imposed on people in the country, where houses were destroyed and property damaged. The people had literally nothing and we had no choice but to come in.  Even their crops were destroyed,” he said. 

Shen said they also acted because some of the survivors were customers of the Chinese businesses in the area, and as such, they sympathised with the victims.  

Amin, along with the other victims, said they were delighted. “Almost all that has been brought here is what we need and can be used immediately,” she said. 

In addition to Ndirande, relief items were also distributed to Bangwe, Chilobwe, Manja and South Lunzu townships. 

Among those that accompanied the Chinese community during relief delivery were officials from Blantyre City Council. 

Dennis Chinseu, the council’s chief executive officer, expressed appreciation for the donation, saying it was literally a big relief for the displaced people. 

“As council, we appreciate the donation the Chinese community has made which is timely. This is [a] big [gesture], considering that we are struggling to think about how the people will be assisted, as the number [of victims] is large. But we were relieved because a number of affected townships were assisted. We appeal to well-wishers for more assistance,” said Chinseu.    

Meanwhile the broader Chinese community across Malawi has donated relief items worth about K45 million (about $44,146), along with a check of cash of K30 million ($29,431) to support victims of Cyclone Freddy. 

Gu Mu, representative of the Chinese community countrywide, said the donation is part of the Chinese community’s corporate social responsibility to the people of Malawi. 

“The Chinese community is a group joined by several Chinese companies of different sectors. As we have been here for a long time, and we heard the call for assistance from the Malawian government, we thought of coming in to assist those impacted by Cyclone Freddy,” Gu told Xinhua News Agency. 

According to data from Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs, the storm killed at least 676 people, injured 2,171 and displaced 659,278 others in south Malawi as of the end of March and the country has started working on road reconstruction and rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by the cyclone. 

On 20 March, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent messages of condolence to President of Malawi Lazarus Chakwera and President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi for the tropical cyclone hitting the two countries. 

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended deep condolences to the victims and offered sincere sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured. He expressed that it is believed the two countries will surely overcome the disaster and rebuild their homeland. 

An area in Chilobwe where houses were swept away 

Tragic situation  

Indeed, more assistance is needed as the destruction was beyond government’s management capabilities. This is probably the reason President Chakwera declared a state of disaster, mostly in the country’s Southern Region. 

All around the country, many roads are impassable, cutting off communities and making rescue attempts almost impossible. In some cases, collapsed trees blocked the roads that still existed. 

Bridges were destroyed and the country’s Roads Authority said it would need a lot of money to repair them. 

In Nsanje, 15 people who had managed to survive by clinging to a tree were swept by the fiercely flowing water. Nsanje District Council Spokesperson Robert Nayeja said when the water came, they climbed trees until the following day when they hoped rescue would come.   

Many challenges 

Apart from the tragic loss of life and homes, Chairperson of Women Caucus in Parliament Roseby Gadama had another concern. She was especially worried about women and girls. 

She said many women were engaged in small-scale businesses and the cyclone has affected their living as they have lost their assets. 

“The impact is greatly felt by female-headed households. The caucus would like to implore government and its stakeholders to implement programmes that would capacitate women and girls to continue to use their entrepreneurial skills,” she said. 

Minister of Information and Civic Education Moses Kunkuyu told media outlet Anadolu at the end of March that an assessment of the disaster shows dozens of bridges and roads had been washed away, making it difficult to provide desperately needed aid. 

He said about 405 km of road infrastructure has been affected, about 63 health facilities were damaged and 944,784 water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities have been destroyed. 

Clean water has become a major challenge in many parts of the country. When cholera hit the country last year, Water and Sanitation Minister Abida Mia ordered water boards to reconnect kiosks that they disconnected due to outstanding bills. 

In some regions, this has eased the shortage situation; but in others, the actual water kiosks have also been swept away. Mia said they are working hard to ensure that water is restored in order to avoid further spread of cholera. 

Meanwhile education has also been severely impacted, as classrooms are being occupied by the displaced people. Kunkuyu told media that at least 500 schools were damaged by the storm, and schools have reopened in four districts by the end of March. 

President Chakwera appealed for global support to tackle the national tragedy. “The level of devastation we are dealing with here is greater than the resources we have at our disposal,” said the president while declaring two weeks of national mourning.  

The government has promised to allocate substantial funds to assist the hundreds of thousands of Malawians affected by the storm and extensive relief efforts are underway. 

Reporting from Malawi