The alert reached AVSI office on Monday afternoon: hundreds of huts in Lacekocot, in Pader district, were burning. By the end of the day, more than 1000 huts got burnt and 925 Households lost all their properties.
The cause was accidental. Rumours said that one hut got burnt due to children playing with the fire. The strong wind then spread the fire to the other huts, very close to each others.
AVSI immediately intervened, first with an assessment of the situation that gave the real number of Households affected. AVSI is now the agency in charge for the distribution of non food items (NFI).
"AVSI, thanks to an emergency stock of UNICEF kits, has started the distribution in Lacekocot", Filippo Ortolani, AVSI Emergency Coordinator for Kitgum and Pader explains. "All the 925 Households affected by the fire outbreak receive one UNICEF kit which contains: a blanket, cooking pots, metal plates and cups, cutlery, soap and plastic sheeting. AVSI also provides one jerrican to each Household". On Wednesday the first round of distribution took place while planning are on going for a second round of distribution of seeds (FAO kits) next week.
Lacekocot is found in Atanga subcounty, Pader district and counts around 4000 Household. AVSI has been working in the camp with water & sanitation, education, health and food security interventions.
For more information, please contact:
Valentina Frigerio
Communication Office
AVSI Uganda,
Kampala
+256 041. 45.01.604
+256 0782 89.79.80
valentina.frigerio@avsi.org
www.avsi.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
