On the night of the flood, the Kanvimvira and Mulongwe rivers, overflowing with water, swept across houses, vehicles and other infrastructures before flowing into Lake Tanganyika which, in turn, rose so much that it flooded homes almost 1 km away. The survivors are stuck and fear the worst for the rainy season, which is not over yet. About 40 people lost their lives, mainly children and the elderly. Over 4,500 families have lost the little they had.
Internally displaced people took refuge in primary schools and local churches. The Salesian parish "Beata Anuarite" currently hosts about 100 people in crowded rooms and in poor hygienic conditions: there is a lack of drinking water, insufficient sanitation ... In this context, water-borne diseases such as cholera must be prevented, but it's not easy, because the water of the rivers and Lake Tanganyika are already polluted, while the city is cut off from the rest of the country, given that the two bridges that allow access have given way during the disaster and the border with Burundi remains closed for anti-contagion confinement from Covid-19.
The Salesian center was flooded by water on last 22 April. Part of the walls surrounding the work were swept away and water entered the welding workshop, damaging welding appliances and tools; in the tailoring workshop, where fortunately all the sewing machines were on the tables, damage was spared, the machines untouched; in the construction workshop, bricks destined for the students' practice were strewn about; and the carpentry workshop was also affected.
“Many students in our school have lost family members, homes, school supplies. Families have lost their homes, food, clothes …,” says the Director of the work, Fr André Kazembe. “Ultimately, the people of God in our parish, and in particular the pupils of our schools, count on our pastoral intervention.”
