Surviving the deadly Kaokalam landslide
But trauma and sorrow run deep
Fifteen-year-old Elis is shattered by grief. Her eyes, filled with profound sorrow, mirror an atmosphere of heartache and sadness at the Mulitaka care centre in Enga Province where survivors of the deadly Kaokalam landslide have gathered to seek solace and refuge.
Elis escaped the devastating landslide that fateful morning on Friday, 24 May 2024. Tragically, she lost five younger siblings who were still fast asleep in the family home that disappeared in an instant under a torrent of mud, rocks and debris unleashed by the relentless force of the landslide.
UNICEF sprung into action as soon as the scale of the disaster became clear. Within 24 hours, UNICEF Health Promotion Officer, Gloria Koka, who was on the ground, swiftly delivered hygiene kits to the Mulitaka Health Care Centre where landslide survivors were starting to gather.
“I was sleeping in the same house. My siblings are small kids. I tried waking them, but they didn’t get up. I was very scared, and I ran away,” Elis says in a trembling voice while fighting hard to keep her tears away. “I am a grade 8 student at Mulitaka Primary School. The school was not damaged, but it is closed now and many of us students cannot go to school.”
“I was sleeping in the same house. My siblings are small kids. I tried waking them, but they didn’t get up. I was very scared, and I ran away.”
Hundreds of people who were sound asleep in their homes met their tragic end when the landslide engulfed the entire Kaokalam village without any warning at three o’clock that fateful morning. Within moments, the landslide had buried houses, food gardens, domestic animals, and everything in its path, under eight meters of mud, rocks, and vegetation. Anyone who survived the landslide escaped with only the clothes they were wearing.
The Enga Provincial Government has engaged local trained Village Health Assistants to carry out a household survey with survivors to confirm the number of people that perished and those who survived.
“My aunt died and some of my uncles who lived next to my house are all gone. Other survivors lost many relatives. They are all still buried under the landslide, we don’t know how many people died,” Elis adds.
More than a week has passed since the landslide wreaked havoc on this remote community. Survivors like Elis are in desperate need of food, shelter, clean water and sanitation hygiene facilities, and psychosocial support.
Today, Elis is amongst other women and adolescent girls who received dignity kits from the Enga Provincial Government that UNICEF had prepositioned in the province prior to the landslide. Dignity kits include a bucket, collapsible jerry container for water, personal care products for hygiene management, and soap. Each item is catered to the specific needs of women and girls.
Elis is grateful for the dignity kit: “This is a very important need for us females and I like it, thank you,” she says.
UNICEF has already promptly delivered a shipment of emergency supplies to the Enga Provincial Government to bolster response efforts. These include 400 more dignity kits, tarpaulins, and tents to provide temporary shelter, recreational kits to engage children in sports activities for therapeutic and psychosocial support during this difficult time. School in a Box kits have also been dispatched to ensure children continue learning and to restore a sense of normalcy amidst the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Life-saving nutrition supplies included in this aid package will safeguard the wellbeing of mothers and children in the face of this adversity.
