Mozambique floods: Preventing the spread of cholera

The floodwaters may be receding after the recent heavy rains in Mozambique, but Oxfam continues to work with those displaced by the floods to combat the new, and very real, threat of the spread of disease.

Threat of disease

Despite the receding floodwaters in Mozambique, those who lost their homes and livelihoods to the floods at the start of the year continue to face new challenges. José Domingos Ernesto, like many others, managed to survive the immediate danger of the floods by relocating his family to the safety of a resettlement camp, only to then tragically lose his one-year-old daughter to cholera.

Many areas where people have been relocated after the floods lack sufficient safe water supplies and sanitation facilities, making them an ideal breeding ground for diseases. That's why Oxfam's team of water engineers and public health promotors are working hard to increase access to safe drinking water and improve hygiene standards in the camps.

Public health promotion

José Francisco Moniz has been working as an Oxfam Public Health Promoter in Mutarara since the start of the floods in January and exudes an infectious enthusiasm for his job.

“When people are displaced and resettled in camps they become vulnerable to certain diseases,” he explains. “As a Public Health Promoter I work with communities to prevent the spread of disease.  I assess every camp and co-ordinate the construction of one latrine for every four families.

"We also distribute basic items such as soap and buckets so that people have the resources and facilities to live in the hygienic way that we are promoting.”

Making a difference

Domingas Henrique has been living in Manduwa camp since December when she and her family lost everything in the floods. She feels that the hygiene conditions in the camp are improving.

“We now have community latrines here that some volunteers built with the help of Oxfam and we mobilise groups to keep them clean,” she explains. “Oxfam carried out a short training course with us about how to use the latrines and keep ourselves clean and healthy and we are putting this into practise.

"Because the latrine is a community asset, if someone doesn’t use it properly, then we will speak to them and teach them how to use it correctly. We have also received soap from Oxfam. Before we had soap we had to use ash.”

A lasting change

“In Manduwa, there were cases of cholera but for the last three weeks no new cases have been reported," José explains proudly . "People are taking our messages on board and are putting them into practise in their day-to-day lives.”

José is confident that his work will lead to a lasting change in people’s behaviour. “We are involving activists and volunteers from the Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management and the Red Cross who live in the local community, that’s why I am sure that when we finish our work here the situation will continue to improve.

"We are not just delivering basic services to people, we care about them and we treat them with affection. That is why we find that people are supporting our work and actually putting into practise what we are saying.”

Written by Milton Machel, Oxfam Communications Officer