Teacher with disability loses his all to floods

Primary school teacher Geoffrey Amisi clears his throat and stammers as he tearfully recalls events of Tuesday, January 25, when he nearly lost his life to raging floods in the night.

A teacher at Bereu Primary school in Chikwawa District, Amisi was awakened around midnight by a roar of running water that suddenly filled his house.

Knowing he couldn’t save himself, the Standard Two teacher, who has mobility problems, sighed “let it be”, waiting for a painful death at home.

The widowed father of five knew that it was everyone for themselves.

“I couldn’t blame anyone,” he says.

Around 1am, surging water triggered by rains that had fallen nonstop for two days left panicking villagers shouting for help as they run in all directions.

As his neighbours fled to safety in higher places, Amisi was trapped in his flooded home.

Even his eldest daughter, Beatrice, was out of her wits. She needed to save her four siblings and four children, who were staying in the same house.

With the raging waters reaching her shoulders, Beatrice could not fathom losing their father a year after the death of their mother.

This left her with stark choices, drown in the house or die while seeking help. She opted for the latter.

Beatrice courageously waded through the fast-moving floodwaters to seek help for her father. She found two young men perching on higher ground. They only accepted to help at a fee.

“They demanded K55 000 and I quickly agreed. When we returned home, my father committed to pay from his salary. We had no choice. Life is more precious than money,” she recalls.

 After taking Amisi to safety, the pair had to go back to the teacher’s flooded house to rescue the four children who were in water.

Luckily, the whole household was saved.

However, Beatrice and her father lost everything to the flood waters.

“The flood washed away our sofa set, mattresses, blankets, clothes, chickens, goats, kitchen utensils, 15 bags of maize and many other household items,” laments Beatrice.

But she is proud of what she did.

“We couldn’t afford to lose our beloved father. We had to save him first. The lost goods may be replaced, but life cannot be replaced,” says the selfless woman.

Last week, Minister of Education Agnes NyaLonje visited Amisi at his home in Bereu, one of the worst hit parts of Chikwawa District.

After listening to his story, the minister described him as a hero, one of selfless teachers affected by the tragedy which left many schools sheltering some of 100 000 displaced people.

NyaLonje donated some relief items to affected families and assured Amisi that her ministry will support him and other affected teachers to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

She stated: “I appreciate the pain that you are going through.

“These are difficult times for everyone, but together we will overcome as we work towards full recovery. My promise is that we will not leave you alone.”

To support recovery and ensure teaching and learning continue after the devastating floods, the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) would implement an emergency school feeding programme with take-home rations.

Under the programme, parents will receive a dry ration of corn-soy blend which is enough for daily porridge for a learner for a school term.

The minister, with support from Unicef, donated school-in-a-box kits and portable chalkboard to sustain teaching and learning during the humanitarian emergency.

The supplies also included sports equipment and recreation kits to support in psycho-social activities.

Headteacher Alex Tembo says while the ministry has supported Bereu Primary School, more help is still required, especially for Amisi.

He says: “On average, the teacher, who has no wheelchair, takes over 20 minutes to move from his house to the nearest classroom, located 40 metres away.

“He is very dedicated to his work and a wheelchair would greatly ease his mobility and improve his quality of life.”

Amisi’s family has not yet paid the K55 000 they owe his rescuers.

However, they are only happy to have survived the disaster which affected 870 000 people and killed 42.

“Life is more important than anything else,” says Amisi.