Valley non-profit provides relief for South Africa Cyclone Idai victims

PHOENIX (FOX 10) - More than 1.5 million people across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi have been severely affected by the deadly Cyclone Idai and the conditions are horrible.

"We'll be going down the road and you'll see this sea of blue tarps and people huddled under those blue tarps just trying to shelter together, trying to stay together as a family," Beth Allen said.

Even though South Africa is thousands of miles away from the Valley, it's never too far to help. Phoenix-based non-profit Food for the Hungry has helpers on the ground to provide much-needed relief.

"Many of the people who were affected by this are our own staff, and so we have these amazing staff members who themselves may have lost their homes or even in some cases, unfortunately, lost family members and they are working to help others," Allen said.

Beth Allen of Food for the Hungry says the most urgent need is clean water and that's why the group distributes water purification, sanitation and hygiene kits to combat cholera and other waterborne diseases.

Another major issue is the fact that it's harvest season.

"Most of the people in this area lost their harvest and that means not only have they lost their food for the rest of this year, but they've also lost the seed that they would take from the harvest from the plants for the next year," Allen said.

Open for financial donations, Beth says they're also asking the public for another form of help.

"A lot of worry. We do ask for prayers, as well on that, just prayers for those people," she said.

Food for the Hungry
Help Victims of the Cyclone Idai
https://www.fh.org/mozambique-emergency/