Even after the flood waters across Nigeria have receded, their long-term harm continues being felt as children are forced to drop out of school to help their families rebuild or earn income, the Guardian Reports. The region’s worst floods in over a decade — set off by rains 20% heavier and 80 times more likely to occur than they would have been without climate change — killed more than 800 across West Africa, including at least 600 in Nigeria and set off an outbreak of waterborne diseases including cholera. Families of children as young as 12 are being forced to keep them home so they can earn money to eat.
“The classrooms are empty in the communities that were affected by flood, as children are understandably choosing survival over education,” an education official in Obubra said. “We work from 7am to 5pm every day and are not allowed to eat until we finish the job for the day,” Timothy Ojong, 16, who left school to work on a cocoa farm in October told the Guardian. “Many children have been fainting as a result of exhaustion.” (The Guardian)