Norway says it will continue to assist the country in its drive to recover from Cyclone Freddy which hit the country.
Royal Norwegian ambassador Ingrid Marie Mikelson said this at Dolo Primary School camp of people displaced by the cyclone in Traditional Authority (T/A) Ngabu in Chikwawa on Tuesday when Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Danish Church Aid (DCA) donated item kits to people at the camp.

Each kit contained a rapper (chitenje), underwear, two pots, two plates, cup, spoon, soap, toilet tissues, Colgate, tooth paste, body care petroleum jelly and bucket. They were given to adolescent girls,
expectant and lactating mothers.

She said: “Norway will provide $2 million [about K2 billion] for humanitarian assistance and $6 million [about K6 billion] for strengthening the agriculture sector. “We are doing this because we are touched by the devastation Cyclone Freddy has caused to the country where lives of people, property, crops and livestock were destroyed.

Mikelsen (with a cap) and other officials symbolically present a kit to a girl

NCA/DCA country director Havard Hovdhaugen said his organisation was the first to assist the people of Ngabu through the Foundation for Civic Education and Social Empowerment (Focese) and Church Action and Relief Development (Card) organisations which they sponsor.

He said since one of their projects in the area involve food security and response to disasters, they were ready when Cyclone Freddy struck. T/A Ngabu thanked NCA/DCA for the assistance, saying it would reduce some of the problems people face in camps.

He called on the people not to lose hope with what they are experiencing, but to work to normalise their lives. “For example, winter cropping is about to start and I appeal to you to plant crops. But I understand that you may not have seeds. I, therefore, appeal to the government and well-wishers to come to their
rescue,” said Ngabu.

According to Focese gender and protection coordinator Dalitso Kachiwala, 500 people are targeted for the kits. At Dolo Camp, people received 101 and the rest would be distributed to Mbiya, Chidyamanga and Nyambiro camps in T/A Ngabu.

The post Norway promises cyclone recovery programmes first appeared on The Nation Online.