Scenes inside camp for Zimbabwe flood victims скачать в хорошем качестве

Scenes inside camp for Zimbabwe flood victims

(5 Mar 2017) From kitchen items to livestock and even her house, Assa Mkwananzi says she has "lost it all" to floods that have affected parts of Zimbabwe. "We lost all our blankets, pots and cooking utensils, our goats and chickens as well because of the heavy rains," Mkwananzi told The Associated Press Saturday in the southern district of Tsholotsho, about 200 kilometres (124.2 miles) north of Bulawayo city on Saturday. Floods in Zimbabwe have killed nearly 250 people since December in regions that were recently suffering from drought. Those who have survived the floods speak of a life of misery, having lost their possessions. One large group of survivors is now housed in a camp, where they are crammed in tents and plastic shelters and survive on charity. A local official estimated the numbers at between 850 and 900 people. For months, villagers pleaded for rain, holding prayers and traditional ceremonies following years of intense drought. Just last year, a regional drought largely induced by the El Nino weather phenomenon killed livestock and forced people to forage for food in forests and seek drinking water from parched river beds in many parts of Zimbabwe. Desperate for rainfall, some people revived a long-abandoned tradition, dating to pre-colonial times, of rain-making ceremonies. In parts of Zimbabwe, traditional leaders and spirit mediums, with the support of the government, led ceremonies atop mountains and other sacred places to appeal to ancestral spirits for rain. Zimbabwe last week appealed to international donors for 100 (m) million US dollars to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away bridges and roads and cut off some communities. President Robert Mugabe, currently in Singapore for a medical checkup, declared the floods to be a national disaster. Since December, floods caused by heavy rains have killed 246 people, injured 128 and left nearly 2,000 homeless, Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's minister of local government, said last Thursday. Some people are unable to reach clinics and schools. Dams have overflowed, raising concerns about communities living downstream. Five bridges on major highways have been swept away nationwide Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government is already struggling to meet routine commitments such as the payment of state workers' salaries. Thousands of nurses in state hospitals went on strike this week over a lack of bonus payments, straining an already dire situation at the poorly resourced hospitals. State hospital doctors have been on strike since Feb. 15, forcing the government to send in army and police doctors to care for patients. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...