BUDUDA LANDSLIDES: UPDATE ON UNICEF’S

EASTERN UGANDA EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Chulho Hyun, Chief of Communication, UNICEF Uganda
Bulucheke, Bududa District, Uganda
It rained heavily in Butaleja last week, and waters
from the flooding which damaged homes and crops
have just begun to recede. Four primary schools
had to close for the time being. In one of them, the
empty compound was strewn with wet and torn
notebooks. Approximately 4,000 households were
affected by the flooding, as the Manafwa and Na-
matala Rivers burst their banks, flooding residential
and market areas. Humanitarian agencies antici-
pate those numbers to rise amid expectations for
more rain.

With pit latrines submerged and pools of water stay-

CHILDREN COLLECT WATER, FROM A STORAGE TANK CON-
NECTED TO TAPS, INSTALLED WITH UNICEF ASSISTANCE, AT
THE BULUCHEKE SITE. W ITH PIT LATRINES SUBMERGED AND
POOLS OF WATER STAYING STAGNANT, AS POPULATIONS RE-
TURN TO THEIR HOMES, THE IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES TO ADDRESS
ARE THE DOUBLE THREAT OF CHOLERA AND MALARIA.
© UNICEF UGANDA/2010/HYUN
There is both a sense of reassurance – one week after the
deadly landslides which engulfed three villages in this moun-
tainous district – that affected communities are getting the help
they need, and of concern that similar emergencies may be
waiting to crop up elsewhere.
ing stagnant, as populations return to their homes,
the immediate priorities to address are the double
threat of cholera and malaria. (One staff member
called cholera, in this kind of situation, a “ticking
time bomb.”) At present, UNICEF is supporting the
government and nongovernmental organization
partners to organize water purification at the house-
hold level, as part of cholera programming; and to
distribute more than 5,000 insecticide-treated nets
as a malaria prevention and protection measure.
Uganda is reporting unusually high levels of rainfall
this year, as a result of the El Nino phenomenon.
The emergency assistance in Bududa and Butaleja
– and continued vigilance regarding the situation in
the country’s western region – represents the acti-
vation of a response and preparedness plan, devel-
oped jointly with the government last year.

At the Bulucheke tented camp, established by the government

for those affected by last week’s landslides and continuing rain-
fall in the Mount Elgon region, around 2,300 people have now
registered to receive assistance. The latest headcount shows
that 1,742 are sleeping there, with the remaining numbers ei-
ther returning to homes of origin (often in at-risk, higher eleva-
tions) or staying with relatives in neighboring villages.

UNICEF has so far provided 60 tents in various sizes for shel-

ter, storage and other purposes. Two of those tents are being
used as temporary classrooms to support the local school; and
one of them, as a first-aid site, managed by local healthcare
workers.

Also on the site are two 10,000-litre water storage tanks, in-
stalled with UNICEF support, and connected to three 3-tap
stances as a temporary water supply system. Water is being
trucked in from Mbale Town, approximately 20kms away, and
ABOVE: TENTS THAT ARE BEING USED FOR AC-
treated with chlorine powder at the point of storage. Just prior
COMMODATION AT THE BULUCHEKE SITE.
to the weekend, UNICEF was finalizing a terrain survey to ex-
plore the possibility of pumping water to the camp, from the
BELOW: COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AFFECTED BY
foot of a hill 800 meters away, using gravity-flow technology.
LAST WEEK’S LANDSLIDES AND HEAVY RAINS, REGIS-
TER FOR ASSISTANCE THAT THE BULUCHEKE SITE.
The picture in Butaleja District, a two-hour jolting car ride down
© UNICEF UGANDA/2010/HYUN
the Elgon plain southwest from here, is very different.