Response to Cyclone Idai

Cyclone Idai hit Beira in 2019 when many lives were lost and much of the city of Beira was damaged or destroyed. It will take many years to rebuild Beira and we want to play an active part in this, using our unique position as a long-term twinning link and based on our record of working closely with community based organisations. As an immediate response we provided funding for 2,000 water purification kits which were distributed to those in most need. A few weeks after the cyclone, BLB sent a representative to attend the donor conference and coordinate with our NGO partners in Beira, ADEL Sofala. We launched an appeal which raised over £20k and combined this with funds from Rotary. BLB partnered with Rubicon UK who had provided disaster response at the time of the cyclone. Together with ADEL, they supervised rehabilitation works undertaken by local craftsmen and labourers. Whilst Matacuane Primary School occupied UNICEF tents, the team arranged emergency repairs to the mains services, toilets and installed a water drinking station. The classroom at Amai Mussananhi was completely rehabilitated, with new roof, windows and doors.
BLB is able to respond quickly to emergencies by ringfencing emergency reserves at the end of each financial year, and then replenishing with crowdfunding.