Reference no: EM132905014

Sepako Village in Tutume Sub District is prone to riverine flooding annually which often leads to loss of lives and destruction of livelihoods. Sometimes while crossing the stream trying to access the school, Ipelegeng Programme and/or crops, many children and women are known to drown.

The stream where villages usually cross is approximately 300 metres wide. For the past 11 years or so, the Office the District Commissione rdeploys an airboat to assist villagers to cross the river, but this measure has proven unsustainable over the years. The villagers grow maize and raise chickens. Some men and women do day labouring. Many men and women cannot get to their day labour jobs as they are too afraid to cross the river because they cannot feel the riverbed when they walk across. When there is a big flood, the chickens often drown and the community has to start the chicken farming from zero. The maize crops are also often destroyed during floods. One in ten members of the community has HIV. There is no clinic in the village. The school and the village church are on higher ground and often community members go there, but there is often little warning that a flood wave is coming, so many families do not have enough time to take their possessions or move their chickens.

•What are the hazards mentioned in this passage?

•What could be some other secondary hazards that this village is exposed to but which are not mentioned here?

•What could be some of the results of a disaster?

•Where are the most vulnerable areas?

•Who are the most vulnerable people mentioned?

•What other vulnerable people are not mentioned?

•What capacities exist within Sepako?

•What could be some of the capacities that are not mentioned?

•What sustainable ways could the Office of the District Commissioner adopt to assist Sepako?

•What are some measures that this community could take to reduce vulnerability and enhance capacity?