Restore Hope in Climate-Affected communities

Muhokya camp for internally displaced persons is located along the Kasese- Mbarara highway in Kasese District, Western Uganda; it neighbors Queen Elizabeth National park and Lake George basin. It’s a hot place consisting of scattered makeshift houses covered with dry grasses and old torn pieces of cloth.  It is home for about 289 households who were displaced by disastrous floods that hit the area in May 2020. The few tents that are visible in the camp are also worn out.  

For most of us, homelessness is unimaginable; Life in the camp is complex and worrisome as households live on fate.

Ben,69 year old  sits under one of the trees in  a hopeless manner as if trying to  get answers to difficult questions. Next to him is a semi-permanent structure that shelters the family of seven, two adults and five Grand Children. The shelter is not much more than a meter high made in local style of bent bamboo sticks stuck into the ground and covered in a mixture of tree branches, dry grass, torn clothing and discarded plastic bags.The day is windy and the plastic bags whisper insistently in the breeze.

Ben arrived at Muhokya with his wife Mary (not real name) who is 54 years old and their five grand Children from Kabukera Camp which his about 18km from where they are now. The covering of their shelter provides some respite from the sunshine of the early afternoon but there will be no guaranteed protection from the strong winds and rains in the wet season (May and October).

 The children are having their first meal of the day, left over millet bread and dry beans that Grandmother had prepared for the family the night before. She has left for Kasese town to look for work and fend for the Family. Another child from a different shelter tries to make way to Ben’s house and the Children pursue him to return to his home because the meal is not sufficient for all of them.

“Am chronically ill, the Doctors at Muhokya Health center tell me I have a disease in the bones. I cannot work, I cannot do anything. My daughter the mother to my grandchildren stays in Karusandara where the floods started and I came here with the children”.

The despair in his eyes as he narrates his ordeal gives a clear impression of what he is enduring.

“The doctors advised me to do an x-ray but up to now I have not got the money to go back to hospital, one time the camp members voluntarily  gathered 20,000UGX (approximately $7)and I bought pain killers but all of them are done now. My grand children are no longer in school.”

Like Ben, many other households in the camp were displaced in May 2020 when Kasese district was hit by flash floods that destroyed houses, gardens and caused of death of more than 10 people. Residents have since then not returned to settle on their land as the area is still prone to natural calamities. They are aware of the fact that whatever infrastructure of their home area that there was has been destroyed by the floods and landslides.

Ben’s story as a chronically ill old man and head of a household comprising of 6 members is not eccentric, before the floods, he was full of life, strong and hopeful. The Floods traumatized him.

There have been periodic food distributions in the camp from the Government and local Non Governmental Organizations. Joy for Children–Uganda, a child rights and advocacy organization visited the camp on 6^th May and delivered food items to the most vulnerable households currently residing in the camp. The Family lacks beddings and they are so much troubled about the rains that might continue to hit the area.

If the internally displaced persons are not reinstated this year, Ben and other 288 households will lack the opportunity to return to their land. Seasonal rains make the route from Kasese town council to Kilembe and the subsequent sub-counties impassable in the months of May and October. It is also another impediment to return home, but the flood survivors do not have a choice.

May 2020 will forever remain in the minds of the people of Kasese district in western Uganda The district was hit by disastrous floods that happened on the 7th of May and peaked on the morning of May 10th. Another disaster followed on May 21st in the areas of Mpondwe-Bwera where flash floods and landslides further destroyed bridges and infrastructure leading to the death of more than 10 people. The flooding started with river Nyamwamba bursting its banks in the areas of Kasese Municipality sweeping away Kyanjuki-Katiri and Kilembe mines hospital. Simultaneous floods also occurred along rivers of Lhubiriha in Bukonzo west with impacts in the sub-counties of Kitholhu, Karambi and Mpondwe-Lhubihira town council. Following the outbreak of these landslides, hundreds of households were displaced and in December 2020, the office of the Prime Minister together with Kasese district local government temporarily relocated 289 households on Muhokya government land. Among them is 90 year old Rose (not real name) who lives with another old lady in a small semi-permanent structure. “I stay with another old lady but she has is not around today. We came from Kabukera camp when the flood waters destroyed our house, am disabled and all my five Children passed on,” She says. The pain and sadness in her eyes speaks volumes as she narrates her experience outside her semi-permanent house. Her grand children live with a Good Samaritan in Kasese town. “I want to go hospital and get medical care but I don’t have the money, I recently got sick and my stomach was swollen and about to shatter. I was able to get to hospital with the help of the Camp chairperson who literally carried me on his back”. She asserts.. Life is evidently not easy for the 90 year old. However, she is positive about the future and trusts in God in better her situation. She says recites her rosary before retiring to bed every night. The Camp Chairperson Mr. Kule Julius says the major challenge in the camp is lack of food and Tarpaulins. “We are lacking Tarpaulins in this camp, when it rains the water flows in and enters the houses, we also have a problem of fire wood and even food. People have been reaching to my office for food but I have been telling them to wait since I have been trying to make an advocacy to NGOS for relief”. He says. The harsh conditions in the camp do not necessitate the implementation of covid-19 prevention measures; the displaced persons housed in semi-permanent structures generally have limited access to safe clean water, proper sanitation, constant food supply and health care. Social distancing may be hard to enforce in the camp. Joy for Children-Uganda, a child rights advocacy organization visited the camp on Thursday 6th 2021 and delivered food items to the most vulnerable households currently residing in the camp. The selected households were identified by the area chairperson Mr.Kule Julius who appreciated the effort of the organization in restoring the lives of the Flood survivors. “I really appreciate Joy for Children-Uganda for the advocacy and the food relief given to us and i request you to go and mobilize others to also come and assist us with food. Generally here we are suffering and not forgetting to tell the government”, he concludes. Key findings and observations. • Muhokya internally displaced camp faces barriers to implementing covid-19 prevention measures due to the overcrowded shelters, limited access to hand washing facilities and proper sanitation. Frequent movements of persons in and out of the camp in search for food and work. • The camp lacks proper waste management thereby contributing to additional threats to the environment. • The children in the camp do not attend school and those that were in school before the floods are no longer in school, it is not because they do not want to attend school but the situation derails their chances of attaining an education. • There is sufficient and unutilized land in the camp that could be used for cultivation. Key Recommendations. • The government of Uganda should consider providing proper housing facilities to the displaced persons to allow physical social distancing, separate quarters for individual families should be provided. • Government and international agencies should provide consumables such as food, soap and washing facilities to the displaced persons. • Primarily, there should be a concrete plan to relocate the displaced persons or better yet allocate land for cultivation so as to improve on their household incomes.