World Vision Mauritania’s urgent response to the latest floods in the district of Sebkha
Every year, the population of Nouakchott faces enormous difficulties because of floods, especially in the district of Sebkha during the rainy season. The damages cannot be estimated and children are the most affected by this recurrent situation. Pools of stagnant water are a serious source of diseases because of insalubrity which encourages the proliferation of mosquitos: spreading diseases like diarrhea and malaria. Another part of the damages caused by these floods is the fact that several families are forced to leave their homes to live with friends or family in another neighborhood and there are also difficulties to access public locations including schools and hospitals. Moreover, water gets inside the houses which increase the chances of getting sick especially among children. “These stagnant water pools are causing us so much trouble every year and everybody; particularly our children get sick all the time. There are so many mosquitos, insalubrity and the smell is unbearable. Another serious issue is the fact that some households take advantage of the situation to empty their septic tanks in the stagnant water. We are exhausted, the water comes right into our rooms and we spend the days trying to pump it out,” said Fatima Ly who lives in the Kouva neighborhood in Sebkha.
To tackle this urgent situation, World Vision Mauritania brought a response through its Area Development Program in Sebkha to mitigate the damages in this area. In alignment with its disaster risk reduction activities (DRR), operations of pumping stagnant water were conducted in the most affected areas of the district. All the necessary resources such as tanks and trucks were mobilized to ensure the success of the operation. Other flooded areas of the district were dried out using sand. In addition to that, several families who were the most affected by this catastrophe, benefited from distributions of mosquitos nets and disinfection products. “Thanks to World Vision Mauritania, the stagnant water pools were pumped out by tanks. In other areas, the water was evacuated by using loads of sand. Some families also received insecticide treated mosquito nets to prevent related diseases. Our gratitude goes to World Vision for this intervention which came in the most needed moment,” continued Fatima, with an air of relief.
These actions were supervised by the mayor of the district of Sebkha and the manager of the Area Development Program of Sebkha, Abdoulaye Diop, the humanitarian emergency affairs manager (HEA) Simon Mane, the HEA coordinator Madani Sy and the supply chain coordinator in World Vision Mauritania. Also the representing officer of West Nouakchott district’s governor was present for the occasion. “This is a very important intervention, although not entirely enough, but the local communities will certainly feel happy about it. All the actions done by World Vision are highly valued in the area. ” said the mayor.
The following table illustrates the costs of the whole operation in the Sebkha District:
Activity
quantity
Unit cost
Total
Pumping tanks
50
18,000 MRO
900,000
Loads of sand
80
20,000
1,600,000
Mosquitos
1000
1200
1,200,000
Soap
60
2600
156,000
Bleach
50
3200
160,000
Total
4,016,000
Article By Ibrahima Diallo