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Flood Relief Program Provides Supplies
and Counseling in Northern Ghana
Flood victims from the West Mamprusi and Kpandai districts of Northern Ghana await distribution of relief items.
“My name is Maria Sooraana and I come from Kpasenkpe community, one of the worst hit by the floods. Three bedrooms and a bath house in our house collapsed as a result of the floods. Our escape was a miracle. We rushed out with the children wading in the water. All around the house there was rushing water and we were not sure of the other remaining rooms not collapsing. There was confusion all over and the community members were running around frantically to seek shelter. Up ‘til this day many have moved to be put up with relatives. It is still raining and we cannot understand the weather again.”
Maria is one of many flood victims in the West Mamprusi and Kpandai districts of Northern Ghana. According to the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) of the Republic of Ghana, approximately 63,000 people were directly affected by recent floods in the Northern Region of Ghana. An estimated 885 houses in West Mamprusi and 353 houses in Kpandai were completely destroyed, with many individuals and families displaced from their homes.
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 Recent floods caused severe damage to communities in Northern Ghana. Above, a destroyed compound in the Janga community.
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Farmland in the region has also been destroyed by flood waters. “Our farms were seriously affected and as a result we eat half-meals or skip earlier meals for a good supper,” says Memunatu Mohamudu, another flood victim. “Our food store will not take us to the next harvest. What we can do to cope will be to sell all the animals that survived in order to buy grain. It also means we cannot support the family’s other needs like school fees and medicine.”
OIC International is supporting flood relief activities in stricken areas of Northern Ghana with a special grant provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
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 The District Chief Executive of West Mamprusi District, the Honorable Sulemana Zakaria, receives relief items from USAID Director Cheryl Anderson at a ceremony in Janga
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The program, “Emergency Relief for Flood Affected Households in the Northern Region, West Mamprusi and Kpandai Districts,” which will run from October 13 to November 12, 2009, targets communities with the most affected households. OIC International’s relief team distributed relief items and also provided guidance and counseling to flood victims during USAID Director Cheryl Anderson’s four-day tour of the Northern, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions. Community leaders and government officials of the Northern Region were also present.
Relief items include two insecticide-treated nets, two plastic mats, two blankets and one lantern per household. “I am grateful for this assistance,” Maria said. “My children will keep warm and mosquitoes will not disturb us because of the nets…We are all happy. God will bless you all.”
To read Maria's story in her own words, click here.
To read Memunatu's story in her own words, click here.
Support relief efforts in Ghana: make a donation and help flood victims in Northern Ghana. (Choose "General Support" under "earmark," and please write "Ghana Flood Relief Efforts" under the comments section.)
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