EarthBeat Weekly: Homelessness and the tragic consequences of torrential flooding

Homelessness and the tragic consequences of torrential flooding EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change September 27, 2024 Flora Membe sits outside her tent with her grandson in Khumwanda displacement camp, July 16 in Busia, Kenya, after floods swamped her house. (GSR photo/Doreen Ajiambo) Inside a camp for internally displaced persons in a remote part of western Kenya, personal testimonies of the impacts of climate change came rushing forward. For many of the people who spoke with Doreen Ajiambo, Africa/Middle East correspondent for Global Sisters Report, that impact was severe flooding that has overwhelmed rivers channeling water into Africa's largest lake, Lake Victoria. "We had nowhere to go as the level of water kept on rising every moment, and we had to make a decision to come and start living in the bush, which later turned into a camp," said Flora Membe, a 54-year-old mother of four who lost her home to flooded rivers five years ago. Life in the camps is difficult, reports Ajiambo, as those left homeless due to severe effects of climate change like flooding and drought face emotional and physical challenges, like looking for food and shelter and unstable health care. Exposed without shelter, women in particular experience additional adversities, including violence and unwanted pregnancies, putting them at risk of contracting HIV and other infections. The plight of the people in Khumwanda camp in Budalangi, Kenya, are just a few of the hundreds of thousands of people in the East African nation who have become homeless in recent years as a result of the impacts of climate change. Climate activists and religious leaders estimate that more than 2 million Kenyans are currently homeless, primarily as a result of extreme weather events like heavy rain, floods, drought and landslides. Every year, more than 30 million people in Africa are forced to leave their homes because of extreme weather events, a figure that has nearly tripled in the past four decades and could grow to 86 million Africans migrating within their own countries by 2050. "Climate change presents a significant challenge, with homelessness being just one of its many consequences," Sr. Celestine Nelima, of the Sisters of Mary of Kakamega, told Ajiambo. "Being situated in a low-lying area, the impact on our community is substantial." Read more: 'Refugees in their own land': Kenyans experience homelessness due to severe floods The flooding and heavy rains around Lake Victoria has impacts elsewhere in Africa. Floodwaters have made its ways to farms in South Sudan, destroying crops, killing livestock and leaving homes in ruins. Upwards of 750,000 South Sudanese are threatened by the floods and at risk of starvation among a population of more than 12.7 million people, of whom about 61% identify as Christian, reports Tonny Onyulo for Religion News Service. The Catholic Church in the region has partnered with other local churches and NGOs to facilitate food and essential supplies, while also collaborating to build dikes, dams and other sustainable water management infrastructure. "Our goal is to minimize the devastation caused by floods on both crops and households in order to prevent future suffering due to climate change," said Bishop Christian Carlassare of the Catholic Diocese of Bentiu. Read more: Aiding flood victims in South Sudan, faith leaders work on long-term solutions Flooding has devastated many parts of the world this year, including in eastern Europe. After the Oder River in western Poland, one of two biggest rivers in the country, flooded earlier this month, volunteers and help — including loads of supplies and money from Catholic charities — poured into the region to ease the pain of the people who lost everything. An estimated 20,000 buildings may have been damaged, based on satellite data. Residents told Agnieszka Bugala of OSV News that "It wasn't a flood, it was a tsunami," as torrential water burst the dam in Stronie Slaskie on the weekend of Sept. 14-15. The Sunday collection in Polish churches Sept. 22 was entirely dedicated to Caritas Poland for the flood relief. Read more: Amid dramatic scenes of floods sweeping through entire villages, Polish Catholics rush to help       What else is new on EarthBeat: In sunny Arizona's Tucson Diocese, solar power makes moral, economic sense by Kimberley Heatherington Twelve of 77 parishes in Tucson Diocese have installed solar power systems since 2008. The diocese is in a city that's one of the sunniest in the country. It's also had 92 days above 100 degrees Fahrenheit already this year.   Read more here »   Siena College symposium answers 'Earth's cry' with 'humanity's call' to care for creation by Gina Christian, OSV News The Franciscan college in New York state will host a two-day gathering on integral ecology and sustainability with a focus on creating a "global vision with local meaning" to care for creation. The free symposium, set to take place both in person and online, will also include several panel discussions, exhibitor displays, prayer and a concluding performance of short plays about climate change, sustainability and climate justice, several of them written and performed by Siena students. Read more here »   African faith leaders and environmentalists push for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty by Fredrick Nzwili, Religion News Service On Sept.10, Catholic Bishop Leonard Ndjadi Ndjate, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the treaty was an ethical imperative that served the best interest of humanity. Read more here »   Love for the poor and for creation is key to a future of hope, pope says by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service Speaking with representatives of movements and organizations from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia, Francis told the group that he has been criticized for never speaking up for the middle class, "and I apologize for that," he said. But at the same time, "it was Jesus who put the poor at the center." Read more here »   Praying With Creation: Notice the hope revealed in nature by Christina Leaño Often it can be difficult to visibly see or feel hope in our midst. That is where this year's season theme — "to hope and act with creation" — might be instructive.  Read more here »   'Green nuns' model how to put into action Pope Francis' call to care for creation by Kimberley Heatherington, OSV News Throughout America and the world, thousands of religious sisters are daily witnessing to the environmental care commitment urged by Francis' 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si', and its 2023 sequel, Laudate Deum. It's a congregational concern that, for many of them, often predates the pontiff's writings — but the merging of their own environmental priorities with official papal pronouncements has helpfully amplified sisterly endeavors. Read more here »   California sues Exxon Mobil over 'sham' of plastics recycling by Joseph Winters, Grist The lawsuit, filed on the same day as a similar lawsuit by environmental groups, follows a two-year investigation into what the California attorney general has called the petrochemical industry’s "decades-long deception campaign" over the sustainability of plastics and the feasibility of plastics recycling. Read more here »   What's happening in other climate news: The majority of Americans support climate reforms. Why won't Congress deliver? —David Schechter, Grace Manthey, Sarah Metz, Tracy Wholf, Chance Horner and Samantha Wender for CBS News Swing states in US election are biggest winners in Democrats’ landmark climate bill —Oliver Milman and Dharna Noor for the Guardian Hurricane makes landfall near Perry, Florida as a Category 4 storm —Kim Luciani, John Gallas and Grace Pateras for the Tallahassee Democrat For a week, New York will be center of money-focused fight to slow climate change —Seth Borenstein for the Associated Press New global climate 'loss and damage' fund names first director —Valerie Volcovici for Reuters Finding a fix for playgrounds that are too hot to touch —Wyatt Myskow for Inside Climate News At COP16, Colombia seeks to lead by example on biodiversity —Issam Ahmed for Agence France-Presse   Final Beat: This past week was Climate Week at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. It serves as a precursor to a busy fall for international environmental policy. Beginning Oct. 21, the COP16 U.N. biodiversity summit will open in Cali, Colombia. Then in mid-November, the COP29 U.N. climate change conference will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan. And later that month, nations will again convene, this time in Busan, South Korea, for what's expected to be the final round of negotiations on a first-ever global treaty to address plastic pollution. Each of the high-stakes international summits will see advocacy and engagement by Catholic and other faith leaders. Be sure to stay tuned to EarthBeat for all the coverage. And while you're at it, invite a friend (or friends) to subscribe to the EarthBeat Weekly newsletter to ensure they're informed on all the news, too. Thanks for reading EarthBeat.    Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org Instagram: @broewe_ncr     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? 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