Floods at Magina – Emergency Appeal

We have received news from Millicent in the past couple of days that there has been severe flooding, caused by exceptionally heavy rain, in the Magina area, near the Care Centre and School. People woke in the early hours of Friday morning to find themselves knee deep in water. Millicent estimates that at least 20 houses have been destroyed, and many people have lost all their possessions. These people have little enough already, and they do not have the means to rebuild their houses and buy new things: house insurance is a ‘first world’ concept. Three of our teachers, Benard (the Headmaster), Nichodemus and Janet are among those who have lost everything. They are taking refuge at the school: the government has temporarily rehoused other local people at the local secondary school (all schools in Kenya are closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak).

We have told Millicent to use the money she would normally spend on school dinners, and money we have just sent to buy textbooks, to buy whatever is needed immediately for those affected by the floods. This will only scratch the surface of the needs, however, so we are launching an appeal so we can continue to support our friends in Magina.

We are in regular contact with Millicent.  She says that the immediate needs for people are food, clothing, bedding and medicine (diseases like malaria and cholera are likely to become a problem).  In longer term, the government may pay for some houses to be rebuilt, but they will not pay for any goods that have been lost, so money will be needed for cooking equipment, beds and other furniture.  The people will also need to buy new crops to plant, as everything in the ground has been washed away.

Have a look at some of the pictures and video that has been sent, and please consider supporting this appeal if you can. As always with Pamoja, anything you give will go directly to Kenya – no admin or advertising costs, and you can be sure that your donation will go directly to people who need it most, administered by our trusted friends Millicent and Eric in the area.  For legal reasons, we need to ask donors, when they give, to understand that we may use their gifts for General Fund purposes in the highly unlikely event that we raise more than enough money for the specific purpose of helping needy families who have been affected by the flood at Magina. 

Thank you so much!