It was just enough to feed his family,

until a cyclone struck his village in mid-March.

It came just before the annual harvest,

destroying his home and his crops.

“Oh, I see.

So on the inside, this is rotten.

Oh, I see.”

But the real tragedy for Agushto

and for his wife Amelia was losing their eight-year-old

son Francisco.

Francisco was swept away and drowned.

What saved them was climbing up a tree like this one.

And they stayed there for three days,

clinging onto the branches.

“When the water came, how high did it go?

Can you show us?”

Idai was the deadliest cyclone to hit southern Africa

in over a century.

It brought torrential rain that flooded entire towns

and ruined vast stretches of farmland.

In Mozambique, at least 600 people were killed,

and many more could be missing.

The people here were already some

of the poorest in the world, and the little they

had is gone.

Now, most of the flooding has receded,

but the crisis is far from over.

So we came here weeks after the storm —

- [non-english speech]

— to understand its lasting impact.

With crops wiped out, millions are struggling

to feed themselves and to rebuild,

and are now entirely reliant on aid.

In Buzi, one of the most affected areas,

we meet up again with Amelia.

She’s with her neighbor Esther, whose daughter Lasina

is sick.

“But what’s the baby sick with?”

Esther is worried these symptoms

might be a sign of cholera.

Following the storm, cholera became one

of the most urgent concerns.

In a matter of days, the number of recorded cases

went from three to 3,000.

But a mass vaccination campaign

has helped stop it from spreading.

Esther wants to have her daughter examined,

but she can’t go to the main hospital.

It’s been wrecked by the cyclone.

So they head to an emergency treatment center run

by Doctors Without Borders.

The doctors don’t think Lasina has cholera or malaria.

In fact, it looks like what she needs is food.

Vital aid is arriving in Mozambique,

provided by dozens of relief agencies

that have taken over the town of Buzi,

like this evangelical group.

“(SINGING) Thank you, thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, thank you, Jesus, from my heart.”

“Let’s do it in Arabic, guys.”

“(SINGING) [arabic]”

They’ve set up a new clinic here

that includes a full operating theater.

“Please, please, please always consider malaria a problem.”

Just down the road, this Muslim charity

is handing out roofing materials.

“Is [inaudible] a South African organization,

or is it part of an international one?”

“It’s a proud South African organization.”

Everywhere we go, the effort to bring the town back

to life is underway.

We catch up with Esther and Amelia after their visit

to the clinic.

They’re carrying bags of aid —

maize flour — to take back home.

After making it across the river,

it’s an hour and a half journey on foot.

But that’s what they have to do to keep the family fed.

There’s enough aid for now while funds last.

But the next big harvest is one year away,

and they’re going to need a lot of help

to survive until then.