Moses Sungafisi (55), a father of five, recalls his traumatic experience with the flooding of Nyampotolwa river in GVH Mbenje of Nsanje district. The river swelled from a narrow stream to a wide river due to the devastating Tropical Cyclone Freddy. The river found its way to people’s houses and Sungafisi’s retirement home was not spared. This happened at a time he was in the final stages of getting connected to electricity
“Around 2am, flooding waters started to enter my house and the moment I went out to check what was happening, my whole compound was filled with water. I managed to escape with my family and from afar, we saw the house disintegrating and all my property including livestock getting washed away,” explains Sungafisi.
Fortunately, the tree coverage around his house and the surrounding areas held them from getting swept away by the rough waters. This has left the once self-reliant household destitute and struggling to make ends meet considering that Sungafisi is elderly and has also lost his farm land to the floods. The raging waters brought a lot of sand in the area and rendered some farms uncultivable. Farming was the most stable source of income for the family which now relies on the scarce piece works and donations from well-wishers.
“When I think about the things I used to have in my house and my years of work in Blantyre to construct it, I sometimes question why I should continue living. I most of the times develop courage and assurance that God spared my life and family for a reason,” laments Sungafisi.
He further adds that he is also stressed by daily thoughts on how to feed his family as well as settle house rentals. Although he has an understanding landlord who allows him to stay for some months without settling his rentals, he has constant fear that this privilege can be taken away at any time. To make matters worse, he receives no support from his son who resides in Blantyre City while the other three are not capable as they also struggle to make ends meet in their respective families.
Currently, Sungafisi stays with his wife and last-born child who is still schooling. He is also troubled about how to support the education of his daughter with the current state of the family. He also disclosed that nepotistic tendencies local leaders have left people like him and his family trapped in poverty because relief fails to reach the intended beneficiaries.
Sungafisi is grateful to the Village Civil Protection Committee (VCPC) Chairperson who occasionally visits survivors of climate change induced non-economic loss and damage (NELD) through encouraging talks aimed at lessening the psychosocial burden they experienced. The VCPC provides first line support to community members affected by natural disasters through early warnings, rescue, documentation of affected households, first aid and support during distribution of relief items.
“The encouraging talks and words of comfort from members of the VCPC has prevented me from executing extreme thoughts that I sometimes have. This has also helped to keep on going with life,” explains Sungafisi.
In 2023, ArtGlo found out that survivors of climate-induced NELD lack formal psychosocial support to respond to the traumatic experience that they go through. Our implementing Partner, CARD Malawi, engaged a number of stakeholders including Village Civil Protection Committees (VCPCs), Child Protection Workers (CPWs), Village Development Committees (VDCs), Local and Religious leaders in GVHs Mbenje, Ngabu, Mtemangawa and Mambundungu through a psychosocial training to provide this support in Nsanje district.
