MAMOUDZOU: Two weeks after a devastating cyclone hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, the atmosphere at Le Manguier school in the capital Mamoudzou is tinged with sadness and resignation. In the courtyard of the Paulette Henry elementary school, as Le Manguier is also known, breakfast is a meal of bread and tuna, washed down with fruit juice.
As December and the old year drew to a close, faces were tense, with everyone aware that the centre — and 20 other emergency shelters like it in the capital — were shutting. They opened their doors on December 13, the day before Cyclone Chido hit and have since been home to nearly 12,500 people. High winds flattened many of the shanty towns in which some 100,000 to 200,000 people lived. The mayor of Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, told visiting French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou that all the emergency shelters in the city would be closed from January 1 "so that we can get the schools back". — AFP
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