Restoring normalcy to children's lives after Tropical Cyclone Eloise

Three days after the passage of Tropical Cyclone Eloise through Zambezia province, several children affected by the phenomenon in Quelimane, the province's capital, are already recovering their smile and resuming their everyday life.

After the storm,15-year-old Ophelia from the Incidua neighbourhood –one of the neighbourhoods most vulnerable to natural disasters in Quelimane–, is optimistic. "Going to school, supporting my parents, homework and also playing with my friends is still my priority despite the damage caused by the cyclone in my home and in our area", she says.

"In our community, this rain was seen as a sign of the beginning of a bad year", Ophelia adds, pointing out the fact that her neighbourhood is located near the mangrove as one of the factors that make it more vulnerable to the sea's fury.

In Zambézia, the storm affected more than 2,800 families, in addition to the destruction of 147 hectares of land with diverse agricultural products and 550 other partially flooded cultivation spaces.

According to the National Disasters Management Institute (NDMI), more than 248,000 people were affected by the Tropical Cyclone across Mozambique, with over 16,000 houses destroyed, damaged, or flooded. As at 28 January, the death toll in Mozambique stood at 11, with several dozen people injured.

To provide urgent humanitarian support affected communities, World Vision's team in Mozambique took to work assessing the extent of the impact of the cyclone for possible intervention and assistance to the populations of the hardest-hit areas. As part of the response, World Vision joined the Multisectorial Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) led by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) in Beira, Nhamatanda, Caia and Dondo, with teams participating in evaluations across all affected districts.

In addition, World Vision, in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme (UN-WFP) and the NDMI, met to harmonise strategies aimed at possible intervention and food assistance for victims of Tropical Cyclone Eliose which, on 22 and 23 January this year, impacted this region of the country.