On Wednesday 1 May 2013 the Nyamwamba river in Kasese Town burst its banks and flooded the town. Kasese is in the South West of Uganda.
Emmanuel International works in Kasese with a particularly vulnerable group of people living in the Acholi Quarter. The Acholi Quarter gets its name from the miners who lived there during the time of the copper mine – they were from the North and were Acholi. There are very few who are Acholi there now. It is a very poor and despised area of town. The river running through the town flooded its banks causing major devastation and leaving a large number of the people we work with homeless, without food or clean water. Pastor Alfonse Kambale wrote on Tuesday 7 May: “Things are not good… because most of the people in Acholi quarters are affected in Nyamwamba division in Acholi quarters. Over 600 families are affected, many have lost their possessions. As you know Nyamwamba river passes near our place and the people down stream are really suffering. Houses are down, and up to now floods are still coming. Some people have moved to Kasese Primary school, as a camp of refuge but remain without enough food, clothes and medication.”
Until 2012 we also worked closely with Enos Kyibibi at the SKILL centre (also known as Kasese Street Kids). The chairman of the SKILL board also reported on 7 May on Enos and the situation at the centre: “I visited him this morning at the skills training centre. He was with 10 children, weeding crops. They don’t have safe water to drink or for domestic use especially cooking as the supply system has been affected. They also lacked food.”
We have been able to send out some money to address the immediate need at the SKILL centre and hope to be sending some to the Acholi Quarter for the immediate needs they are facing.
Donations for this project are now closed, but if you want to make a contribution to the work of Emmanuel International, please contact us.