5 Nov 2010

BENIN / FLOODS UPDATE

Benin families struggle to find shelter and keep themselves healthy in the wake of massive flooding in the country which has displaced about 600,000 people. UNICEF

Posted at: November 5, 2010 1:31 pm

Duration: 02:19

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: BENIN / FLOODS CHILDREN
TRT: 02:19
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: FON / NATS

DATELINE: 23-28 OCTOBER 2010, COTONOU, BENIN

SHOTLIST:

23 OCTOBER 2010, VOSSA, SUBURB OF COTONOU, BENIN

1. Various shots, Lucie in flood waters
2. Med shot, Lucie entering her flooded house
3. SOUNDBITE (Fon) Lucie Zanou, Mother:
"We had to storm out of the house, the floods destroyed my entire life, I have nowhere to go, I've lost almost all my belongings and all my crops."
4. Various shots, flood waters
5. Various shots, Lucie and family under truck
6. Med shot, Lucie and her 2 children leaning and sitting under the truck
7. SOUNDBITE (Fon) Lucie Zanou, Mother:
"It's our only solution, but is not safe for us to live. I have to bathe my children on the side of the road, we urgently need food and clothes."
8. Med shot, Lucie and her 2 children Josué, 4 years old and Germain, 6 years old under the truck
9. Various shot, flooding

24 OCTOBER 2010, YENAWA, SUBURB OF COTONOU

10. Pan right, people queuing to get water
11.  Wide shot, fire truck driving towards gathering point to distribute water
12. Med shot, girl pouring water in a bucket

25 OCTOBER 2010, ATHIEME, BENIN

13. Wide shot, woman carrying a baby on her back, getting survival kit from red cross personnel
14.  Close up, survival kits being assembled by Red Cross

28 OCTOBER 2010, KPAKANKAMEY, BENIN

15. Wide shot, people queing at the entrance of the local social center
16.  Med shot, Julienne Baongbola, 35 years old, mother of 5, carrying her baby on her back
17. Med shot, Julienne going through the crowd of women
18. Tilt down, Julienne waiting for her bag to be filled with rice
19. Med shot, women waiting for their coupons, carrying water tanks in the social center
20. Med shot, box full of "aquatabs" purification tablets reading "Unicef, Benin Via Cotonou"
21. Pan left, man carrying a bag of rice out of the storage facility
22. Med shot, Julienne getting back to her house carrying the rice bag and water tank, walking in the water
23. Wide shot, Julienne's flooded house
24. Various shots, Julienne at home
25. SOUNDBITE (Fon) Julienne Baoungbola, Mother:

"Now that the water has gone a little, we all feel more and more sick. I think it's because we use a lot of dirty water."
26. Various shots, flooding

STORYLINE:

When torrential waters started invading this neighbourhood, Lucie Zanou had to leave her house in the middle of the night carrying her two children to safety.

SOUNDBITE (Fon) Lucie Zanou, Mother:
"We had to storm out of the house, the floods destroyed my entire life, I have nowhere to go, I've lost almost all my belongings and all my crops."

Mother of two children, and seven months pregnant, Lucie had no other choice but to follow her neighbours a few hundred metres up the road, where everyone sleeps on the pavement.

She found a shelter of her own, under this big truck, and managed to save a basin, where she can wash her children.

SOUNDBITE (Fon) Lucie Zanou, Mother:
"It's our only solution, but is not safe for us to live. I have to bathe my children on the side of the road, we urgently need food and clothes."

Like Lucie and her family, the recent floods and heavy rainfalls that hit five West African countries have displaced almost 1.5 million people, leaving some of them with no shelter at all.

In Benin, the floods have seriously disrupted the lives of 680,000 people.

To respond to this crisis, UNICEF and its partners in the United Nations developed a comprehensive response, distributing shelter material, clean water, purification tabs and mosquito nets.

The priority right now is to avoid an outbreak of disease.

In Kpakankamey, in the suburbs of Cotonou, Julienne Baoungbola is a mother of five children.

Like 500 people from that neighbourhood, she has no other choice but to join the line to come gather some vital goods.

In this social center, UNICEF and its partner Caritas are giving out water tanks and purification tablets, as well as food.

The water from Julienne's well is now contaminated, and her children are starting to suffer diseases due to the stagnant water.

SOUNDBITE (Fon) Julienne Baoungbola, Mother:
"Now that the water has gone a little, we all feel more and more sick. I think it's because we use a lot of dirty water."