Disaster & Emergencies

Providing emergency food and shelter when disasters and emergencies happen.

Teso Development Trust came into being to provide relief for the suffering Teso communities during the insurgency of the Karimojong form 1986 to 1991. It resumed the task in 2003/4 when the area was hit by the Lords Resistance Army incursion, helping to provide emergency food aid, water and sanitation to the thousands who were displaced. Following this it funded resettlement of thousands of people who had been housed in camps, helping re-establish homes and crop growing.

Food being distributed

Emergency shelters being given out

The current problem

Since 2007 the area has been hit by the impact of climate change which has meant an irregularity of rainfall and drought. In 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2014 this has resulted in major flood emergencies in the northern regions of Katakwi and Amuria and around the lakes in Kumi. This has resulted in:

Crops being washed away or rotting in the fields
Roads made impassable
Homes destroyed
Schools damaged
Outbreaks of malaria through rapid breeding of mosquitoes in flooded areas
Wells made unusable

We estimated in 2011 over 40,000 were so affected and in 2014 30,000.

Response

TDT has responded by funding food relief, water purifying tablet, mosquito nets and emergency shelters for the affected communities through its Church partners, targeting aid on the communities most damaged and particularly helping the elderly, disabled and child-headed households.

In 2011 we helped 20,000 people with emergency relief aid notably in villages in Katakwi, Serere, Amuria and northern Kumi. In 2014 5,000 were helped in a smaller area of Amuria.

The challenges

We expect that in future this instability of rainfall and drought will continue and the Trust plans to work with its partners and others to support a longer term planned response package.

In the short term it will build a relief fund to provide emergency food aid. An example of aid is that £20 will provide an emergency supply of beans and maize to a family, and £3 will provide a mosquito net.