The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze recently in CHIMANIMANI
IT is said time heals, but that might not be the case for some people who live in Chimanimani and surrounding areas as they are still struggling to overcome the trauma associated with Cyclone Idai.
It is now close to five years since that fateful month in 2019, when the weather phenomenon wreaked havoc in parts of Manicaland and neighbouring countries.
However, the wounds seem fresh for affected families.
Cyclone Idai is considered the worst weather-related disaster to hit the Southern Hemisphere.
Some people easily break down when they are reminded of their relatives who were either swept away or buried in debris.
Others are still agonising over their lost wealth — houses, livestock, crops and vehicles, among other possessions.
Try as much as they can, these residents will never forget the ferocity of the heavy winds, incessant rains, flooding and mudslides that tore through the community.
“Sometimes when it rains, especially in the evenings, most households in this area converge on Muriringwa’s place for safety. We do not feel safe anymore following that terrible cyclone. We now prefer being a huge group so that we can rescue each other if something bad happens,” said Margret Kaneta.
“Others have since left this place.”
Kaneta lost her son and brother-in-law to Cyclone Idai and their remains were never recovered.
“Each time the rains come, I feel uncomfortable and fear for my children’s safety. My children are begging me to consider relocating.
“They suggested we move to Mutare or any other place that is safer, but I was born and raised here, so was my husband. We cannot abandon our roots,” added Kaneta.
A lot of work has been done to restore Chimanimani to its former glory. This had made some people hopeful about the future.
Moving on
In Rujeko village, what used to be Nhamo Muyambo’s compound is now an unhabitable rocky area.
Muyambo, his wife Dorcas and three children died on the night of March 15, 2019, when the devastating Cyclone Idai barrelled through the area.
Two of his other kids were away at school and survived.
Noah Muyambo narrates events of the fateful night
In the painful aftermath, Muyambo’s uncle Noah, who lived close to him, is struggling to move on.
“I named him Nhamo; little did I know that, as the name suggests, I had planted a seed yenhamo (poverty) in his life,” he said as he broke down.
“His mother was impregnated by a man who just abandoned her, so he (Nhamo) was born here and he grew up under our care.”
On the fateful night, before the cyclone struck, Nhamo, who was an artisanal miner in Chimanimani, bade his uncle farewell on his way home.
Having seen a cyclone alert notification, Noah had advised him to stay at home for a day or two.
However, four hours later, he received a message that would change his life forever.
“A neighbour came knocking around 3am, telling me that my nephew’s compound had been ravaged by the rains and that there was no sign of life,” recalls Nhamo.
“When I got to his place, I could sense death. I was trembling and confused, and not even sure if we would be able to locate their bodies in the debris and rocks that now covered the entire space.
Closure
Huge rocks deposited in Nyahodi river by the rains during cyclone Idai
In Kopa, Majiva Magweva survived death by a whisker after being swept away by the waters, together with her mother, husband and their three children.
She recalls how the raging cyclone dragged her for close to a kilometre before she was left clinging to a tree.
The visibly shaken Magweva was rescued by fellow villagers, who found her perched on a treetop, where she had spent the night.
“I am the only one who survived in my family. I spent the night in the tree, only to be rescued the following day around 4pm,” she recalls.
“I lost my entire family; it haunts me to this day. My life took a sudden turn and even though I have moved on, the old memories haunt me daily.”
Her children were aged four, 10 and 15.
Magweva has failed to find closure since her husband’s body was never recovered.
Her family is among the many that were affected.
Similar tales
Many people in Ngangu township, where hundreds of lives were lost and at least 240 households were destroyed, recount similar stories.
“As the rains persisted, on a Thursday night, I became scared and together with my two children and sister-in-law who had come for a visit, we decided to seek refuge at a neighbour’s place,” said Juliet Machangi, as her voice cracked with emotion.
“While we were seated with our neighbour, we heard a harrowing sound. Shortly after that, water came gushing, destroying the walls.
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“I took one child and ran away, while my sister-in-law grabbed the other one. However, they got buried in the water and until today, their bodies have not been recovered.”
Ngangu Primary School also woke up to crumbled classroom blocks and staff houses buried under huge boulders.
The school lost 32 learners, with only 26 bodies being recovered. They met their fate at their homes.
Getrude Chimuka, who was the acting head of the institution at the time, recalls they had to house more than 40 families that were left homeless by the storm.
She also had to look after six other families at her home.
“It was a difficult time; I had to be strong for the community, although deep down, I was also afraid and in shock,” she said.
Way forward
The Government, through Attorney-General Virginia Mabiza, recently filed a class action case at the High Court unopposed to declare all the 279 people who remain missing after the Cyclone dead.
This is expected to bring closure to the affected families.
A legal officer with the Attorney-General’s Office, Mr Peter Garwe, who is overseeing the case, revealed that the process would be finalised soon.
“The 279 missing victims will now be declared legally dead by the High Court sitting in Mutare; we are waiting for the date for the class action,” he said.
The temporary Nyahodi river bridge constructed by the South African defence forces to save the situation shortly after the cyclone
Ngangu Primary School senior teacher Anthony Bhuku applauded the move, which is expected to help affected families access bursary schemes and Government compensation, among other things.
“Our lives changed in an instant. Food, clothes, houses, shops, et cetera, were destroyed and we had to learn to live as one family, sharing the little we had, housing each other and working as a team to retrieve bodies and to conduct burials. We still live like one big family and this has helped us recover,” he said.
The community is also sharing fields with those who lost their pieces of land to the disaster.
Bhuku said they had sought help from psychologists for learners as most of them showed signs of distress.
Staff from the Department of Social Welfare were also deployed to various schools to provide critical protection services to affected learners.
“We realised it was important that after such a traumatic experience, we quickly move in to rehabilitate these children, otherwise this would have left them with permanent scars,” he said.
“We still conduct regular psychological therapy sessions for our learners, with external counsellors periodically coming in to assist. We also had to be more serious with sports at the school to keep learners busy and speed up their recovery.”
Grateful
Residents applauded the Government’s timely interventions.
Sekai Kireni, one of the Runyararo Housing Project beneficiaries, lost her husband, two children and home to the cyclone.
“We only recovered two bodies (husband and child) and for each one of them, I got US$1 000 aid from the State. It helped me during the funeral and afterwards,” said Kireni.
The Government has been working with several partners to restore normalcy in all Cyclone Idai-affected areas.
Apart from money, affected families have also been receiving food, clothes, houses and psychological support.
Chimanimani East Member of Parliament Joshua Sacco said: “The Government paved the way for the renewal of livelihoods. Through the Runyararo Housing Programme, all 251 affected households in the council database stand to benefit as we fight to ensure total healing for the community.”
Another Nyahodi river bridge constructed by the Government post cyclone idai
At least 165 houses have so far been constructed, with 159 families having already been allocated units.
The remaining houses are expected to be complete by mid-year.
The MP also used devolution funds to build two classroom blocks at Ngangu Primary School, with construction of the foundation for the third block underway.
However, more blocks are still needed.
Chimanimani East Ward 21 chairperson Chipo Hlerema paid tribute to the Government and the Southern African Development Community for rehabilitation projects that brought a new face to the community.
Homes, schools, bridges and more than 100 kilometres of roads have been rehabilitated in Kopa.
Turning lemons into lemonade
New business opportunities have emerged for the community after the cyclone. For instance, James Bamusi, a fruit vendor, has now switched to the “lucrative” quarry business.
“We woke up to huge boulders lying everywhere after the Cyclone Idai disaster and we felt that quarry was a business we could explore. We blast the huge rocks and sell them for US$5 per wheelbarrow to make a living,” he said.
“Some are also renting out fields to those who lost theirs; others also started clothing, carpentry and kitchenware businesses considering that most families had to start life from scratch.”
