The compound in front of the blue and white low-rise building is buzzing with rushed activity.
On one side there are men stacking boxes of water bottles. On another, women sitting on chairs are picking through bundles of clothing on the ground before folding and organising them into piles of men’s, women’s and children’s sizes.
Instructions are being shouted.
Through the doors of the house, in the lounge at the front, there’s more urgency. Here, some women are sorting out baby food, nappies and sanitary products.
This is the local community response to a call for emergency aid after Mayotte was devastated by Cyclone Chido on Sunday.
Work to gather aid is under way
The aid is being collected here in a neighbourhood in Reunion’s capital Saint-Denis, an island east of Madagascar.
This is where Somo is helping. She’s wearing a black hijab and her face is framed by her black-rimmed spectacles.
Somo came to Reunion to study law two years ago. Her mum Echat, dad Saindu and sister Kaounaini live on Mayotte.
Somo has had no contact with any of them since the deadly storm tore through the island on Sunday.
Somo
“I’m really worried,” she tells me. She’s very softly spoken and is smiling nervously. But it’s easy to see Somo’s desperation. “I’m just dying waiting for news,” she adds.
Somo knows her mother and father are alive because word has reached her from other community members who reported seeing them after the deadly storm.
But there is no news about her sister and her six children aged between two and 16 years old. They are all still missing.
Somo has been frantically calling their numbers non-stop since Sunday, but nobody has answered.
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Thousands feared dead after cyclone
The family’s home has been completely destroyed. Somo is desperate to send money to them but there’s no way of doing so.
She’s especially worried about her father because he’s alone.
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“I don’t know if he has any food or water or anything,” she says.
As I am about to leave, Somo tries to call them again. She waits, looking at the phone screen in hope and in desperation. But there’s still no answer.
