Currently in Dar es Salaam Tanzania non stop heavy rain has caused potentially fatal flooding conditions, 9 lives have already been taken! People in the area are having to seek refuge on roof tops due to the rapidly increasing water levels. These people already have very little in terms of belongings, clothing and even basic necessities the repercussions of the flooding will be catastrophic.

In 2010 I lived in Tanzania for 3 months studying colobus monkeys for my masters degree with the Udzungwa Forest Project (UFP). During my time there I fell in love with the country, its people and wildlife. The people were so friendly and welcoming and would do anything to help anyone. For my research I had 2 Tanzanian field assistants “Simon” and “Titus” they helped keep me safe in the forest and we are all now friends for life! Recently Simon “checked in” as safe in the floods on facebook, I immediately messaged him to find out what was going on. What followed were videos of people sat on roof tops trying to stay safe away from the water and large vehicles being washed down streets by the floods.

The video that struck a cord with me the most was a group of men having to attach a rope and an empty petrol canister to a young boy to try and get him to safety across the water. Most of these people can‘t swim especially the children! The boy was lowered into the water and immediately washed away, one of the men then had to jump in to try and save him. The pictures below are images taken from the video which unfortunately wont post to this page.

If anyone can help in any way please get in touch, even if its the smallest donation its so appreciated.

Thank you

All videos and images sent by Simon Champuku will be posted on my facebook profile feel free to have a look.