Clara aid worker urges Offaly people to 'bring hope in wake of Cyclone Freddy'

Ronan Scully, from Clara, works with Self Help Africa and has spent time in Malawi in the past. He  has issued an urgent appeal for people to help those who have lost everything and who are in desperate need of assistance. He writes:

Self Help Africa has made an appeal for urgent help for the people of Malawi in the wake of the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy. The death toll from the tragedy is expected to exceed 1,200 people, and hundreds of thousands more have been left homeless, cut off from roads, electricity and clean drinking water in mainly poor, rural areas.

Cyclone Freddy, which also struck Madagascar and Mozambique, has left an appalling humanitarian situation in its wake. In total, it’s thought that almost one million people in Malawi require emergency food and shelter assistance. Self Help Africa are on the ground with local partners, providing tarpaulins, buckets, soap, water purification tablets and other essential supplies, to communities in displaced peoples’ camps and in areas where we are working. 

Prior to this crisis, the people of Malawi were already facing significant challenges. Here, the average life expectancy is just 58, and 75% of the population lives on less than €2 a day. The country is currently in the grips of a deadly cholera outbreak that has already killed more than 1,700 people here in the last year. 
Cyclone Freddy was the longest-lived cycloned in recorded history, and also has the highest accumulated cyclone energy of any tropical cyclone on record. The impact has been devastating. Floods and high winds have devastated homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and crops. Across Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar, up to two million people are thought to have been affected. 

Cyclone Freddy is the latest in a series of weather-related disasters - including the ongoing Horn of Africa drought - that have devastated sub-Saharan Africa over the past few years. It’s a sign of the deadly impact of climate change on a region whose people are the least responsible for the climate crisis, but are suffering some of its worst effects. 

Richer, more industrialised nations have caused much of the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change - a reality which led to a ‘loss and damage’ fund for climate disasters being agreed last year following the COP27 climate conference. I was encouraged to see Ireland take its seat recently on this committee, tasked with turning these promises into action. 

The organisation I work for, Self Help Africa, have been working in Malawi for decades to reduce levels of poverty and hunger. Our focus is on agricultural production, nutrition, food security, training, the empowerment of women and climate-adaptation measures such as tree planting. All our efforts are aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty and supporting people with opportunities to change their lives for the better. 

Increasingly, Self Help Africa is also responding to emergencies, and now I, on behalf of the organisation, am asking for your help and support, to join with us to assist communities in Malawi to cope with this latest challenge. 

More than 350,000 households in Malawi are requiring assistance. Flooded lands and ruined harvests mean that food security is facing many families in affected regions, as is shelter and a lack of clean drinking water. 

Throughout my life, I’ve spent almost three decades living in Africa and Asia. I’m proud to say I work for Self Help Africa, an Irish development organisation supported and funded by Irish Aid, and the generosity of people like you, the Irish public. 

I’d like to take a minute to share with you, an example of Self Help Africa’s work on the ground, in Balaka, Malawi. Here, we’re working with the community to diversify crops - with the excess sold for profit. One family I visited had received a loan of three types of seeds, and a crash course on crop diversification. To repay the loan, the family then simply had to pass on the first excess of crops and seeds to two other families, who signed up for the same deal. Any crops after that are theirs - to be sold for extra income, or to provide more food for the family. 
Meanwhile, peanuts, a cash crop well matched to both climate and market conditions, were introduced into the village for the first time. Properly bagged nuts are largely non-perishable, travel well, and do not have to be sold at peak harvest time, so they can be held back until better prices can be obtained. Program participants, who are treated like businessmen and not beneficiaries, pay for their initial seed stock and training by returning seeds the next season.
How do we in Self Help Africa know when our projects have succeeded? We know when we can move on to the next village with a fresh load of seeds, crops and even poultry and animals, leaving profitable businesses behind. Broader initiatives include training programs to help turn small-scale agribusinesses into investable enterprises that can attract outside capital and generate real economic growth - the basis for much of our success here in Ireland.

This is just one example of the long-term impact of Self Help Africa’s work in Malawi and across Africa, as well as Brazil and Bangladesh.  By an accident of birth I am Irish, but I could have just as easily been Malawian. My trips to Malawi and indeed many of the other African countries I have lived and worked in have made me realise the numerous similarities there are between us all. We breathe the same air. We walk the same way. Our spirits need love and acceptance. Our bodies need food, water and sleep. We share the same humanity. We are really not so different.
My thoughts often go back to the children I saw at the Self Help Africa projects I visited in Malawi, where knowledge is being passed on by local staff that will vastly improve their lives for the better. It brings me great comfort to know that these children will have the opportunity to grow and enjoy healthy lives and fulfil their potential, thanks to your support.
I understand that there are many urgent challenges for society, such as the war in Ukraine, the Turkey-Syria earthquake, the drought in East Africa that we are also responding to as well as the rising cost of living. But if you can spare any amount, no matter how small, to support Self Help Africa’s emergency response for Cyclone Freddy, and work in general, it all adds up to make a huge difference to the lives of people in Malawi and beyond.

You can make a donation to Self Help Africa’s Cyclone Freddy appeal by visiting: https://selfhelpafrica.org/ie/cyclone-freddy-emergency-appeal/

If you’d like to get involved in an event or organise an event, or just find out more about the work of Self Help Africa, please phone (01) 6778880, visiting www.selfhelpafrica.org or simply send whatever you can afford to Self Help Africa, Westside Resource Centre, Seamus Quirke Road, Westside, Galway or drop me a line at ronan.scully@selfhelpafrica.org if you would like to organise a fundraiser to support our much needed work.