Blowing rain causes death and destruction in central Congo. The walls of mud huts collapsed on families. Also, some the few 1950's vintage buildings (clinics) were damaged forcing the sick out of their beds. Pictured is a damaged school building in Bulape. It occurred on a Sunday afternoon while we were in church. A blowing rain extensively damaged these elementary school buildings and other houses in the village.
KINSHASA, 8 April 2008 (IRIN) - Fifteen people have died and hundreds more were left homeless after days of torrential rains in Kasai Occidental and Bandundu provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a humanitarian official told IRIN.
"At least 500 people have been left without shelter; some are still sleeping in the rubble of their houses while others have found refuge with their neighbours," Marie-Madeleine Kaneku, the director of the NGO Caritas in Luebo district of Kasai Occidental, said.
The dead included three children aged between six and 10, who died when the walls of their homes collapsed. Others were seriously injured.
At least 100 houses were destroyed by the torrential rains and the accompanying strong winds on 2 April in the town of Tshikapa, Kaneku said.
REFLECTIONS:
Some of the damage occurred in Luebo in the Kasai Occidental Province in central Congo. Luebo is located about 70 miles to the south of Bulape. Luebo like Bulape is a poor rural village. Here's another example of how poverty kills!
Almost all of the houses are made of mud and stick walls with thatched roofs of palm leaves. These houses can not withstand repeated blowing rain storms. When the mud becomes wet, the sturdiness of the house is compromised.
The people are too poor to afford the cost of molded and pressed clay bricks. These bricks would extend the life of the typical house. Fired clay bricks are even better.
Houses, hospital, schools, and other buildings built in 1950s by missionaries and other foreigners have deteriorated over the years. The rains have made them susceptible to collapse, too. Again, the people are too poor to make the necessary repairs to restore these buildings.
Luebo was ground-zero for the Ebola Virus Outbreak last fall.
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father, the rains renew the earth and make crops grow. However, the rains cause death and destruction for the rural poor in Congo. Comfort those affected by the recent rains. Renew their spirits. In the name of Jesus, AMEN.
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