VIOLET Frank’s two grandchildren serve as reminders of her missing daughter-in-law.
It is feared her name will be added to those of more than 300 who died when Cyclone Freddy struck Malawi at the beginning of the week.
The youngsters had gone to stay with Violet just days before and escaped the fate of their mother, who fell victim to the unforgiving power of a landslide.
“She was with my son in their matrimonial home in Chilobwe. He stepped outside their home when he heard neighbours screaming and things falling with a loud bang outside their house,” Violet said.
“Luckily, he survived. He was taken to hospital by well-wishers. But we do not know where his wife is.”
When we met Violet, she was staring at what was left of her son’s home. A huge boulder sat in the middle of the two-bedroom house, the memories there smashed to pieces.
A few metres away, rescue teams were retrieving a body from the rubble and mud. It was not Violet’s daughter-in-law.
She asked one of the officials to help look for her loved one, but she did not get an answer.
“When you tell [the rescue teams] where to look for people, they do not go there. They are only retrieving bodies in the places that are not as badly affected.
“But what about our people? When will they go to look for them?”
Chilobwe was one of the areas worst affected by the landslides that hit Malawi’s commercial hub, Blantyre.
The advice that most residents received from the authorities before the cyclone struck was to stay indoors, but that was not much help.
It is not clear how many houses were destroyed in Chilobwe, but we saw huge piles of boulders and trees that had flattened people’s houses.
Other homes were washed away by torrents of water or buried under mudslides.
Areas that had been green and bustling with small businesses were in a sombre mood.
