Flood Relief Update
In response to the flooding in August TDT sent funds to our partners in Teso to distribute food items, tarpaulins and mosquito nets to the most vulnerable in the worst affected communities.
100 households in Agonga and Odiding Parishes, Okungur sub-county and 100 in Kamatur sub county in Kumi District.
The basic criteria used for selection of beneficiaries was households only eating one meal or less per day, low income households where no members are in full time employment, households whose whole compound was waterlogged and those who had no place for drying harvested crops or those considered highly vulnerable such as the elderly, orphans or the chronically ill.
The aim was to increase the consumption of nutritious meals in households, reduce malaria levels and the loss of harvested crops through improved post harvest handling/ drying. Even in the short period following the distributions the reduction in malaria cases was evident.
In the north of Teso, where there were established village savings and loans groups tarpaulins each group was given 5 tarpaulins for hiring out to group members. This gives group members access to a tarpaulin for drying their crops and raises money for the group as a whole.
These are a few of the testimonies of households helped.
Veronica (bottom centre) lives in Odimai Village in the parish of Odiding. She is 17 years old and lives alone with her brother as they lost both their parents, the mother due to untreated malaria in 2021 and the father in 2024 in a road traffic accident. She was encouraged to join a VSLA group by a neighbour and makes a little money by helping to weed neighbours gardens but it is hard to find the funds to buy basic commodities. She is very grateful for the mosquito nets and food items as they are now able to eat two meals a day and are protected from malaria which her brother had just recently recovered from.
Leah (bottom right) lives in the community if Osilion with her husband and 3 children. She is very grateful for the distribution of mosquito nets as malaria has already caused her to suffer miscarriages and they have lost 3 children to the disease. It has also saved the family a lot of money as they were spending 50,000-150,000 UGX a month (between £11 and £33) now it is more like 20,000 UGX (£4.50) and this is for other illnesses. The saved money can be spent on school fees and for other household items.
Joseph Opolot (bottom left) lives in Okerai A and is 103 years old. As he has no direct family (he was never married and has no children) he relies on the support of well wishers and the church. He is very grateful for the distribution of mosquito nets and food as he is now able to eat two meals a day.
