Flood waters wipe
crops
(by
Bishop Martin NYABOHO, Makamba Diocese-Burundi)
A
secular person was commenting on the recent floodwaters
in Burundi and said:
“During
the 12 years of civil war, people perished by gunfire,
bombs, grenades leaving dust and smoke throughout the
country. Now people are perishing by floodwaters
including the already buried ones who were found
floating on the surface of water at Mpanda cemetery”.
When I invited
my Christians to pray to the Almighty God who is in
control of the creation and the ecosystems, one shouted
as he prayed: “Oh Merciful God, protect us from the
floodwaters as you’ve protected Noah and his extended
family”.
March,
April and May have been months of unusual heavy rains
which have caused many damages in different parts of the
country. Crops mainly bananas , rice and beans were
wiped out. The expected good harvest will not take place
this summer and the people would have to suffer from the
famine if organisations such as World Food Programme and
others missed to intervene.
Constructions,
mainly houses, unroofed churches, schools like that one
of Buheka county and bridges have been destroyed. The
road from Makamba to Bujumbura Capital city is not
practicable, travellers have to go through Matana to
reach Bujumbura, that means journeying 110 more miles
and adding over 30 % to the usual ticket.
It
was noticed in the public cemetery of Mpanda that dead
and buried bodies were floating on water early May. They
need to be reburied. We call upon our partners to keep
us in their daily prayers as we go through this painful
situation caused by heavy rains. The negative impact is
great.
Bishop
Martin NYABOHO
Diocese
of Makamba.
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