Flood woes
Children's lives are still at danger in Bayelsa. There are hidden hazards including waterborne illnesses, and farmlands have been destroyed.
Water infrastructure, sanitation facilities, and public health facilities have been damaged as a result of heavy rains and river overflows, raising the danger of waterborne illnesses like cholera, diarrhea, and malaria as well as the likelihood of an epidemic and an increase in childhood killer diseases. Children living in improvised camps for displaced people lack basic amenities and face additional dangers including being separated from their relatives and gender-based violence.
Ebisoudei Simon, 40, who is unemployed and a mother of 4 young children, says that coping has become more difficult as life has become so hard. “The price of everything has changed, things are so expensive. My husband is a fisherman. He is unable to go fishing because of the rising water. Where we are now, we sleep on the floor without any kind of protection or a mosquito net.”
257,900 people affected have been affected by the floods and 219,400 displaced people have been forced to flee their homes. About 77% of the communities along the riverside are completely or partially drowned.
Access to food, healthcare, and other necessities is overly expensive and there is a lack of supply, women and children remain the most vulnerable. Getting shelter, hygiene kits, and other crucial supplies to affected communities remains a priority for women and children who are being exposed to the elements and outbreaks of waterborne illnesses like diarrhea.
Tarilayoun Apeli, 38, is a modest trader and a mother of eight children. She had sent two of her children to live with her sister due to the cramped conditions they were in, in the incomplete structure they were all sharing; now faces a new obstacle.
“My children and I are maintaining this unfinished building and have just received an eviction notice from the landlord. Who would be willing to help me now? I started selling little amounts of food, but nobody is buying, and the people are in need. How will I get by if I don't sell? My youngest child, who is two years old, is unable to receive his final dose of vaccination since the clinic is flooded.”
A problem that many families in comparable situations are currently confronting.
Through the delivery of cholera kits and government-led mobile health teams, UNICEF is assisting the State Ministry of Health in supplying necessary medications and conducting medical outreach in IDP camps. With more funding, UNICEF is expanding its efforts in Bayelsa to deliver life-saving medical supplies and necessary medications, chlorinated water, sanitation materials, and support for the prevention and treatment of sexual and gender-based violence.
