Supporting Mothers and Children in Flood-Stricken Benin

UNICEF's Edward Bally reports on support for mothers and children affected by recent heavy rains and flooding in Benin.

Supporting Mothers and Children in Flood-Stricken Benin Edward Bally: You're watching UNICEF Television. When torrential waters started invading this neighborhood, Lucie Zanou had to leave her house in the middle of the night carrying her two children to safety. Lucie Zanou: We had to storm out of the house. The floods destroyed my entire life. I have nowhere to go. I’ve lost almost all my belongings and all my crops. Edward Bally: Mother of two children, and seven months pregnant, Lucie had no other choice but to follow her neighbors a few hundred meters up the road, where everyone sleeps on the pavement. She found a shelter of her own, under this big truck, and managed to save a basin, where she can bathe her children. Lucie Zanou: It’s our only solution, but is not safe for us to live. I have to bathe my children on the side of the road. We urgently need food and clothes. Edward Bally: Like Lucie and her family, the recent floods and heavy rainfalls that hit five West African countries have displaced almost 1.5 million people. In Benin, the floods have seriously disrupted the lives of 680,000 people. To respond to this crisis, UNICEF and its partners in the United Nations developed a comprehensive response, distributing shelter material, clean water, purification tabs and mosquito nets. The priority right now is to avoid an outbreak of disease. In Kpakankamey, in the suburbs of Cotonou, Julienne Baoungbola is a mother of five children. Like 500 people from that neighborhood, she has no other choice but to join the line to come gather some vital goods. In this social center, UNICEF and its partner Caritas are giving out water tanks and purification tablets, as well as food. The water from Julienne’s well is now contaminated, and her children are starting to suffer diseases due to the stagnant water. Julienne Baoungbola: Now that the water has gone a little, we all feel more and more sick. I think it’s because we use a lot of dirty water. Edward Bally: This is Edward Bally reporting for UNICEF television. For more information go to Unicef.org, Unite for children.