by Khamar Koshoro, Tanzania Red Cross Society
The Tanzania Red Cross Society is supporting hundreds of people affected by a powerful earthquake that rocked northwestern Tanzania on 10 September. Survivors of the quake spoke with the Red Cross’ Khamar Kashoro about what they recall from that frightening day and how they are coping.
Steven Sebastian (8): “Grandmother’s house was moving into the road”
“I live in Karagwe, but I was on a month of school holidays visiting my grandmother, Bibi Fraisca Buberwa, in Bukoba. We were in her house on Bukoba-Uganda road when everything started shaking. At first I thought it was a truck that had crashed into our house. It was horrible. Bibi told me to get out of the house quickly. And even though she is old, she moved like a young girl and got outside quickly too. She started calling on the neighbours to leave their homes. When we were outside, the land was shaking and it looked like grandmother’s house was moving into the road. Together with our neighbors, we left and slept outside for three days. It was very dangerous. I don’t even want to think of it.”
Yasinta Sylivester (36): “I rushed back home and saw only dust”
“I left my small daughter, aged 12, at our house on Kashabo-Magengeni Street and went for shopping at our local Magengeni market in Bukoba municipality. Then, I heard a lot of noise and saw a big shaking of the land and I saw buildings collapsing. After the first tremors, I rushed back home and saw only dust. My God! I lost my husband in May of this year, and at that moment, I thought my daughter was not alive. I started crying a lot. I did not want to live. My neighbors came and comforted me. But a few minutes later I saw my daughter coming. Thank God for life. The Red Cross has helped me with a mosquito net, blankets, soap, rice, other things. But I’ve nowhere to go with my children. A crashing big stone has replaced my house and I have lost everything, including my money.”
Nuru Abbas (96): “I fought for the British all over the world…but I’ve never seen such a horrific earthquake in my life”
“I fought for the British all over the world, in Abyssinia, Jerusalem, Egypt, Palestine and parts of Europe during the Second World War. I am a poor old war veteran with only four years left to hit a century, and now this earthquake has added salt to my wounds. I’ve never seen such a horrific earthquake in my life. Before, I lived alone. My two daughters are both married. I cooked for myself, fetched water, went to the market for shopping. But my house perished in the earthquake and now I sleep in a collapsed building on Rwamishenye Street. I have lost almost everything. I would like to see the government and others do something to bring my life back to normal, because I have nothing I can offer.”
