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NAMIBIA / FLOODS
STORY: NAMIBIA / FLOODS
TRT: 3:06
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / OSHIWAMBO / NATS
DATELINE: 5 – 8 APRIL 2011 / ONDANGWA, OSHAKATI, NORTHERN NAMIBIA
1. Med shot, boy doing a back flip
2. Wide shot, kids in water
3. Wide shot, building in water
4. Wide shot, church in water
5. Wide shot, graveyard in water
6. Close up, graveyard
7. Wide shot, Leo Shoopala Relocation Camp in Oshakati:
8. Close up, kids in Leo Shoopala Relocation Camp
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Elina Ninkoti, Principal Social Worker, Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare:
“It's worse than any previous floods that we’ve experienced. Some people that were never affected before were affected.”
10. Wide shot, Leo Shoopala Relocation Camp in Oshakati
11. Wide shot, kids in Leo Shoopala Relocation Camp
12. Wide shot, Hilma Mholongela playing with skipping rope
13. Close up, Hilma Mholongela playing with skipping rope
14. Med, Hilma and her mother Eva walking
15. Wide shot, school under water
16. Close up, school under water
17. Med shot, Hilma playing with skipping rope
18. Wide shot, Hilma playing with skipping rope
19. SOUNDBITE (Oshiwambo) Eva Mholongela, Flood Victim:
“We don't know when to return to our homes. We normally go to our house to assess whether the water has gone down.”
20. Wide shot, aerial view of flood damage
21. Wide shot, kids crossing broken bridge with umbrella
22. Wide shot, man fishing
23. Close up, man fishing
24. Wide shot, water tanks damaged by floods
25. Wide shot, trucks driving over broken bridge
26. Wide shot, food being distributed by aid agencies in camp
27. Wide shot, woman taking bag of maize food aid
28. Wide shot, Red Cross workers fitting a pit latrine
29. Wide shot, flooded bridge
30. Wide shot, boy holding umbrella on bridge
31. Close up, boy holding umbrella on bridge
32. Med shot, kids sitting under tree at relocation centre
33. Med shot, girl hitting pole with stick
34. Close up, girl hitting pole with stick
35. SOUNDBITE (English) Elhadj As Sy, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa:
“While we think about health of course is important, immunization of children it’s important, making sure that we do not have experiences of diarrhea and other forms of water borne diseases and better sanitation facilities. But this is a population that needs to be protected at this particular point in time to make sure young girls are taken care of in a vigilant manner; that they are not mixed with adolescent of a certain group. We need to make sure they are also in a place where they will not fall prey to some other abuses that may happen.”
36. Med shot, UNICEF team in storage warehouse
37. Wide shot, As Sy in warehouse
38. Wide shot, woman plaiting hair of child
39. Wide shot, women sitting around
40. Wide shot, boy in front of flooded house
41. Close up, boy in flooded house
A few sunny days in northern Namibia offer some respite for citizens reeling from the impact of the worst floods in the region since 2008 and the heaviest recorded rains.
Sixty two people have drowned and almost 37, 457 people are currently displaced.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Elina Ninkoti, Principal Social Worker, Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare:
“It's worse than any previous floods that we’ve experienced. Some people that were never affected before were affected.”
At the Leo Shoopala Camp in Oshakati, one of the towns hardest hit by the crisis, eight year old Hilma Mholongela spends her days playing games because she can’t go to school. She and her mother Eva had to flee their home when it flooded. They found refuge here. Hilma is one of over 100,000 affected students. This is the third year her school has had to close because of the floods. But this time it’s worse.
SOUNDBITE (Oshiwambo) Eva Mholongela, Flood Victim:
“We don't know when to return to our homes. We normally go to our house to assess whether the water has gone down.”
The disruption of children's education is just one side effect of these floods that have destroyed roads, bridges, homes and staple crops in all six northern and north eastern regions in Namibia.
These are already some of the poorest areas and have some of the highest HIV rates in the country.
The displacement of people has sparked health concerns as cases of cholera have been already been reported in southern Angola which borders some of the affected regions. And there is also a risk of a malaria outbreak.
The Namibian government declared a state of emergency at the end of March and has allocated 4.4 million USD to the crisis. Aid agencies like UNICEF have also offered support to prevent malnutrition, ensure adequate water and sanitation, education and child protection. But the worst is not over yet.
More rain is expected and another flood wave from Angola is on the cards.
This means more people will need temporary housing and urgent humanitarian help.
With no clear end in sight, efforts are being focused on making sure those who’ve suffered especially children, don’t suffer any more.
SOUNDBITE (English) Elhadj As Sy, Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, UNICEF:
“Immunization of children it’s important, making sure that we do not have experiences of diarrhea and other forms of water borne diseases and better sanitation facilities. But this is a population that needs to be protected at this particular point in time to make sure young girls are taken care of in a vigilant manner; that they are not mixed with adolescent of a certain group. We need to make sure they are also in a place where they will not fall prey to some other abuses that may happen.”
While Namibia and humanitarian agencies get their house in order to mitigate the impact of the floods. It seems those victims lucky enough to have a roof over their heads and those who’ll soon have to leave their homes have no choice but to wait it out.
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