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Barn i klimasårbare land hemmes i vekst og utvikling

KLIMAENDRINGER: De fattigste barna lider mest under klimaendringer. Over halvparten blir varig skadet både fysiske og psykisk på grunn av mangel på mat. – De blir dobbelt rammet, sier Redd Barna.

Arielle is a 13-year-old girl who lives with her mother Aline and her seven siblings in a camp for displaced people in the western part of Burundi. The family live in a tiny one-room hut made of wood and plastic, which is not large enough for a person to stand in. They have been in this situation since April 2020, when their home was destroyed by floods and they were forced to flee to the displacement camp. Arielle and her family used to live on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, where her mother Aline used to farm and sell produce. Their old house was much larger and made out of clay, with a tin roof. In 2019 and again in 2020, floods hit their home. When the floods came the second time, they did not recede and their home and land remains underwater. With this year’s rainy season just around the corner, the family know that they will unlikely ever be able to return home. The situation is very difficult for Arielle and her mother and siblings. Their father left the family recently, and they have few means to make an income. To help support the family, Arielle goes out each morning to move and stack bricks, which earns her about USD 1.20 per day. When she is not stacking bricks, Arielle helps her mother with the younger children, and does domestic work like cleaning, cooking, and fetching water. Arielle’s mother Aline does whatever she can to put food on the table for the children, but often the family only eats one or two meals per day. The family suffer from hunger, with some of the children showing signs of sickness from malnourishment. The family also experience regular bouts of malaria, due to the unsanitary conditions in which they are living. All of the children dropped out of school when they moved to the displacement camp. Arielle would love to return to school, but lost all her school materials in the flood. Arielle dreams of one day owning a television, so she can watch films.

FLOM: 13 år gamle Arielle (til venstre) bor sammen med moren Aline og lillesøster Ester i en leir for internt fordrevne i Burundi. Teltet er så lite at det ikke går an å stå oppreis. De måtte flytte hit da Tanganyika-elven flommet over og de mistet huset. (Redd Barna)

Av Une Bratberg, journalist

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Redd Barna
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2201, Vårt Land - 30.11.2021

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