KAMPALA, Uganda, SEPT. 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The aid organization Caritas Internationalis is asking for help for Africa, as the worst flooding since 1972 has left 1.5 million people homeless.
The organization said that the floods range from Mauritania on the Atlantic seaboard to Kenya on the Indian Ocean. Caritas is asking help especially for the people of Uganda and Ghana.
Caritas Uganda's communications officer Vincent Sebukyu said, "The situation is terrible. People have been forced from their homes on to higher ground. Now, even that has been washed away. Many of the areas are completely cut off from outside help. People can no longer move."
"The flooding in Uganda has been ignored by the international community so far," the statement added.
Caritas said that "If the heavy rains continue we will have an increased loss of lives, epidemics, hunger, and poverty as the economy as a whole is damaged. The people in these areas depend on a good harvest, but crops have been washed away and fields left water logged. It is the worst flooding since 1972. These are areas of serious deforestation, so damage to the environment could be a factor."
Dr. Africanus Diendong, who works with Caritas Ghana, said that the country faces a similar plight. "The most urgent thing people need is food," he said. "Whole communities have been cut off. You can only reach them by boat."
"It is still raining," said the doctor. "It's a very desperate situation. The threat of disease is one of the biggest fears. People are living out in the open or in schools. Homes have been wiped out."
ZE07092002 - 2007-09-20