Nduta (Tanzania) : about forty houses washed away by torrential rains

A heavy rain that fell on the Nduta camp left more than 100 Burundian refugees homeless. They require emergency assistance. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The rainy season that is being experienced in a large part of Tanzania, including the Kigoma region (northwest Tanzania) where the Nduta camp is located, is very hard for the occupants of the refugee camps. Their homes, mostly made of light materials, are constantly being washed away by the wind and torrential rains, every time it rains.

The torrential rains washed away more than forty homes on November 12, leaving more than 100 Burundian refugees homeless. Many of them are sleeping under the stars and others are being taken in by their neighbors while waiting for emergency aid promised by NRC, the Norwegian Refugee Council, which deals with disaster cases in Nduta.

“All our belongings have been washed away by these rains, we no longer have food, cooking utensils, clothes… Our women cook outdoors,” laments a father from zone 16 who was seriously affected by these rains.

Other affected zones include 1, 10 and 14.

NRC was responsive and quick because since Wednesday, this Norwegian NGO had started building houses for the poor.

A community leader says that if nothing is done to renovate the entire camp, “every time it rains, there will be damage, sometimes irreparable given how old the houses are”.

Last September, this camp had also suffered damage caused by floods and torrential rains.

Last month, at the Nyarugusu camp, located in the same region of Kigoma, more than 200 houses had also been destroyed by torrential rains.

The two camps are home to more than 110,000 Burundian refugees.