Dilemma for flood victims staying in schools as learning resumes

The fate of thousands of Kenyans camping in public schools after being displaced by floods hangs in the balance after President William Ruto announced that learning for the second term resumes on Monday, May 13.

This means the displaced people will have to look for new shelter as the floods have yet to subside. Mohamed Guyo, a 69-year-old father of 11, is among 13,770 people camping in public schools after the River Tana burst its banks, submerging their houses and forcing them to seek shelter in schools within Garissa town.

Mohamed and his five children have been staying at Hyuga Primary School, where two of his daughters learn.

“We received the news from the president of the postponement of schools’ reopening but a new announcement now says that schools are reopening on Monday. It is shocking news; we have nowhere to go, and we are worried,” said Mohamed. He believes it might take at least a month before they can return home, as water levels are still high.

“We came to this school as a safe ground but the flood water has been rising and some of the IDPs who built makeshift houses in this school were displaced again,” said Mohamed.

He wondered how children will learn in totally submerged schools while others, including his host school, are partially flooded.

Halima Abdi, a mother of seven, is also among thousands of internally displaced families in Garissa township who celebrated the postponement of the re-opening of schools, but she was shocked by the latest announcement.

Speaking at the Boul Argi camp, where she built a makeshift structure after her home in Bulla Swahili was submerged, Halima said the current situation would make learning difficult.

“Our homes are totally submerged. We could not salvage anything and my children’s uniforms and books are gone,” she told The Eastleigh Voice.

She said that, unlike other IDPs in Garissa town who fled to schools for shelter, over 250 families in Boul Argi had no such opportunity as the only public school that would have sheltered them was also totally submerged by the River Tana floods.

“It was not wise for the government to reopen schools and allow thousands of Kenyans to suffer and, at the same time, make our children miss an opportunity to catch up with the rest of Kenyan learners,” Halima said.

Jele Ahmed Hire, a school board of management member, expressed his concerns over the new reopening date.

“Our school remains inaccessible. It is totally submerged and desks, books, and computers were washed away,” he said.

Aerial footage of floods in Garissa County on Sunday, November 26, 2023. (Photo: Kenya Red Cross)

He appealed to the president to consider a further postponement until the floods subside.

Several parents at the camp echoed similar sentiments and appealed to the government and well-wishers to help them find a lasting solution to their endless predicament. According to the Kenya Red Cross, 13,770 IDPs from Garissa town and the neighbouring Tana River County are sheltering in schools.

Mohamed Salim, who was displaced from Ziwana by the raging floods, said he was worried as he has nowhere to go when schools reopen.

“This is the only safe space we found as higher ground as we fled the floods,” he said, adding that the other nearby government institutions were already overcrowded with people displaced from Mororo and Bakuyu in Tana River County.

Residents of Bulla Sheikh, Bulla Kamor, and Winsor who are camping at Jaribu Primary School and Kazuko Girls School also expressed worry over the announcement of the reopening date.

Worsening situation

Aden Bille, the chairman of the IDPs committee at Jaribu Primary School, said the reopening of schools will worsen the situation of the displaced families who have no alternative shelter.

"It was another sad day for the IDPs who had celebrated the postponement of the schools’ reopening date,” said Aden.

“There are makeshift structures all over the compound as the classrooms were not enough to accommodate the 467 households displaced by the floods,” he said.

Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabodza told The Eastleigh Voice that all IDPs from Garissa town and Tana River County camping in various schools will be relocated to the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation centre, which is currently hosting 570 displaced households.

“We are working together with the county government of Garissa to find more open spaces to relocate more than 13,770 IDPs ahead of the opening date announced by the president,” Mohamed said.

He added that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees was also expected to provide shelter to the internally displaced persons in Garissa.

The Garissa County Director of Education, Abdihamid Maalim Ali, urged the IDPs to comply with the government directives on the relocation plan to allow learners to resume classes on Monday. He said two schools in Garissa County were submerged and it will not be possible for learners to resume classes on the opening date.

Passengers travelling from Nairobi to Garissa arrive in the Kona Punda area of Tana River County by boat on May 7, 2024. (Photo: Issa Hussein)