Erica Raimundo Mimbir gave birth to her first child on a school desk, the only dry surface she could find after spending days trapped in her flooded home in southern Mozambique.
“I wanted to die because of the pain and the conditions,” the 17-year-old told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in a village in Maputo province.
She was evacuated by boat the following day and found refuge with relatives, joining an estimated 650,000 Mozambicans the United Nations says have been affected by torrential rains since December.
“I don’t think I’ll go back home. I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Mimbir said, recalling how rising waters forced her to sleep upright, leaning against a wall.
Cradling her daughter, Rosita, born prematurely Jan. 19 and weighing just 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds), she described the ordeal simply: “It was very painful.”
