Imagine the plight !. A single mother in Mozambique had to jump on a mango tree in her pregnant condition. Miracle Baby girl Sara was born on tree top as the area was flooded and both the mother and baby and her elder brother had to stay on top of the mango tree for another two days after the delivery.
“I was with my little 2-year-old son, when suddenly, without warning, the water started to get inside my house, I had no option but to jump on top of a nearby mango tree. Then the pain started, and I had no one around to help me. In a few hours I gave birth to my baby girl Sara, on top of that mango tree. I was completely alone with Sara and my son. We stayed on top of that tree for 2 more days after her birth. Later, the neighbors helped me to get down and we came to this place like everybody else,” told Amélia, a single mother who doesn’t know her age.
Cyclone IDAI slammed central Mozambique with an unprecedented fury and destruction. The rescue and immediate assistance efforts, are still ongoing in the hardest hit areas. One of these areas, is the administrative post of Dombe that extends through an 80 km valley that is irrigated by several rivers that, due to the cyclone, violently burst out of their basins generating an immense flooded area.
The situation is serious, and UNICEF is providing support to the Government of Mozambique to reestablish primary healthcare services, including vaccination and prevention and treatment of malaria for affected communities and to ensure critical health supplies are available for outreach services. UNICEF is also helping to address nutritional status of under 5-year-old ensuring HIV integration in programming, including treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition and encouraging continue infant feeding practices.
pic & news courtesy – UNICEF