Cyclone Freddy: missionary’s anguish

An evangelical missionary in Mozambique says storms and rain were ‘incessant’ and poorly-constructed houses around her were ‘flooding and collapsing’ as a tropical storm battered the country.

Cyclone Freddy, the longest-ever recorded tropical cyclone, which has returned several times, ripped through the country and neighbouring Malawi with over 600 dead and countless people missing, injured or made homeless.

Janet Phythian, of the Growing Hope Mozambique mission, spoke to en in the midst of the Cyclone. She says: 

‘I cannot reach most of the churches as the roads have collapsed. Also twice now, including today, it’s been impossible to use the farm road as it is too flooded to drive out. We hope to fix it tomorrow. The Pungue river is overflowing so the entire region is flooding. This has caused the local dirt and sand roads to collapse and both adults and children have to wade through the water. I myself was bitten by a mosquito whilst wading and had to see a doctor as the wound quickly became infected. The storms and rain are incessant as I type this and the poorly-constructed houses around me are flooding and collapsing. The Christians I have been able to speak to say their children are very frightened by the thunder and fear their homes collapsing. I’m finding it difficult to see all this distress but not to have the resources to be able to offer any practical help. I don’t know at this stage how the church buildings are impacted.

‘The national highway was partly damaged near us. Sometimes the authorities forbid people to use the roads as it’s just too dangerous. This impacts however they make an income, for example by selling goods at the markets. Pastors do not receive salaries so they all need to work for a living. Pastor Pires has a job, but he has not received his salary for two months. Pastor Victor sells clothes and sheets in the market, but people are not buying them at the moment as they don’t even have enough for food. But that’s more to do with increased food prices globally.

'Help will not arrive quickly'

She added: ‘Help will not arrive quickly. There was little support in this area after Cyclone Idai in 2019, although a whole new village was built for people displaced from Dondo. But they did not provide schools, clinics and transport, so those residents have to walk miles to reach them. Food was available only for members of Frelimo (the ruling political party) and there was medical support for a month.

‘Today the flood victims need food, blankets and to raise the floors of their houses above flood levels. But this should be done in advance of cyclones, not after they hit. How can they sleep with water everywhere, when they have no bed and sleep on mats on the floor? One man I spoke to said that his house is totally flooded. His older children go to school, so they can get out of the water during the day, but his three-year-old cannot. So he took her to the school too, but had to pay for her to stay there for the day.

‘When the storms end, many in our area will need dry shelter, food, clean water and medicine, as the flood water is contaminated. Unsurprisingly, there is now also talk of cholera being on the rise.’

Looking ahead, she continued: ‘I would like to get the churches to the stage where they can support their congregations and neighbours when in need. This means developing a plan of action to respond to crises and giving pastors more spiritual training. We are considering using ‘Rooted in Jesus’, the group course in Christian discipleship specially written for use in Africa. I need to look into this.

‘We also plan to help churches start micro-enterprises to raise funds. Depending on funding, this might include vegetable seed collection for growing and selling small vegetable plants, beekeeping for honey, and some other initiatives.’