Butoke
update, August 31, and Sept. 3, 2010
30 August, 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This the beginning of the rainy season, season of planting
and season of witches. The season was inaugurated yesterday about 5 pm with a
powerful tornado type storm over Kamenga (West side of Tshikaji). It started
with an overpowering whirlwind, heavy rain followed by big hail. It took maybe
20 min, in all, but it left us all breathless. In the following minutes, we
heard the wailing of two mothers, the cracking of palm trees and thick
branches. Many trees fell. I sent two men out to discover whether any wounded
or people suspected dead needed help. They discovered two kids had died crushed
by destroyed buildings, 21 people wounded, many houses destroyed. Night was
falling. We invited families to join us as our buildings were untouched. We
received, the first night, 20 people.
Today, by daylight, we counted 130 houses, 6 churches, 2
schools destroyed, 782 people homeless. We discovered that there were, in fact,
34 wounded, of which 6 had fractures. We have warned UNICEF. MONUC was seen cruising to take in the
reality. Maybe some help will be forth coming, but we will need to follow up
also on the cultural side.
Almost all villagers believe there is a supernatural cause
to this. The chief is to blame; he must have permitted a witch to live among
us. The designated witch is a young woman who after a divorce for so-called
sterility, remarried and has children. The major offence is that her new
husband or her family did not repay the dowry, so the first husband would, with
the help of a fetish, have destroyed the village. The whole tale has no sense,
as her house is intact, and according to animistic logic, her house should have
been the epicenter of the destruction.
It is hard to imagine how real these myths are in people’s
heart and mind and how it can create psychedelic realty.
The damage by the storm itself is massive: 130 houses, out
of a total of 740, is 18%. Whatever seeds people kept in the destroyed houses
are destroyed with them. Many agricultural tools are broken or lost. It is our
calling to help, but we can only if you feel the same calling.
Yesterday, there was a first interagency meeting on Kamenga.
Most agencies have next to nothing in stock. UNICEF has called from Lubumbashi
60 plastic covers for roofs, 60 blankets and about 100 jerry cans. FAO has not
yet committed to any help. Others will
give some drugs to IMCK where the wounded are because the mayor has ordered all
34 admitted, but it is unsure she will ever pay for the care and the hospital
no longer provides food to anyone. We want to help with food and for the six
people with fractures. Hospitalization may take 3-4 months for some; others may
be released after 3-4 weeks. Based on my pension we will be able to cover two
weeks of need for food for all but we will run out of means for the long
term. Per day we need, for three meals, $2 per person, $60 per month per
person, $360 per month for six people, or about $1500.
The partial help is likely to be divisive. UNICEF wants the
chief of Kamenga to be responsible for the distribution of the aid . The “help”
may further destabilize the community as it will not cover all or even most
needy, and is likely to be thought to be distributed based on alliances and
family links. Sad and hard to counter, as need will persist for over half of
those touched by the storm and for those most needy even before the storm. Last night we housed more than 50 people and
their meager belongings and we prayed for peace.
We feel that Butoke can be most useful by contributing to
associations, regrouping both those with devastated houses and intact houses
but poor. We feel the equivalent of 15kg of seeds (5 kg each of corn, beans and
peanuts) per family and the basic tools would make a real difference. For the
tools the cost would be $3000 and for the seeds, $4500. The total budget would
be $7500 for a total of 300 families or the equivalent of $25 per family.
Just now, I read a message that tax exemption has not yet
been granted to Friends of Butoke in America. That is too bad. Can’t we resort
temporarily to the tax exempt status of Maryland Presbyterian Church or other
churches, as Butoke is now firmly tax exempt here? People on our side live and
die partly by the rhythm of our help. Do we all care? We here pray we all do.
In His love
Jean and Cecile.
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Friends of Butoke,
Inc. is now incorporated and application has been made for 501-c-3 status in
the USA. Until it is granted,
contributions in the USA can be made payable to Maryland Presbyterian Church,
1105 Providence Rd., Baltimore, MD, 21286, USA, marked “for Butoke.” These contributions may be tax deductible in
the USA.
For those not
interested in a USA tax deduction, contributions can be made payable to H.
Branch Warfield, 13801 York Rd., V-3, Cockeysville, MD. 21030, marked “for
Butoke.”
Contributions to
Butoke in Canada can be sent through World Hope Canada, Box 21082, RPO Ottawa
South, Ottawa, ON K1S 5N1
UK
Contributions in the
United Kingdom can be sent through Paul Evans, 5 Westville Ave., Illkley, LS29
9AH, United Kingdom.