This southern African country last week appealed to international donors for $100 million to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away bridges and roads and cut off some communities."Women balancing bags on their heads trudge through the mud carrying food for those still in the village taking care of remaining livestock. They were airlifted by helicopters after being marooned," said, Sibongile Nyoni, an official with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development stationed at the camp. Those who have survived the floods say they have lost their possessions.Like Mkwananzi, she is now housed at a camp where survivors are crammed in tents and plastic shelters and survive on charity..Desperate for rainfall, some people revived a long-abandoned tradition, dating to pre-colonial times, of rain-making ceremonies.Since December, floods have killed 246 people, injured 128 and left nearly 2,000 homeless, Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwes minister of local government, said last week.

The rest of the villagers are at the camp, on the lookout for a sign of the arrival of food donors. In parts of Zimbabwe traditional leaders and spirit mediums, with the support of the government, led ceremonies atop mountains and other sacred places to appeal to ancestral spirits for rain. Some people in the rural areas of Matabeleland North province are unable to reach the safety of clinics and schools.Zimbabwes cash-strapped government is already struggling to meet routine commitments such as the payment of state workers salaries. Thousands of nurses in state hospitals went on strike last week over a lack of year-end bonus payments, straining an already dire situation at the poorly resourced hospitals.In Tsholotsho, homes, mainly grass-thatched huts, have crumbled.Tsholotsho: From kitchen items to livestock and even her house, Assa Mkwananzi says she has "lost it all" to floods that have hit southern Zimbabwe. Debious Sibanda, 20, is one of the few villagers who still returns to his familys home in Mbanyana village "to check out if everything is still OK.The drought has ended and now people are suffering from the downpour."We have between 850 to china control cable manufacturers 900 people here.Others who no longer believe in traditional customs held Christian prayers. Dams have overflowed, raising concerns about communities living downstream.President Robert Mugabe, currently in Singapore for medical treatment, declared the floods to be a national disaster.State hospital doctors have been on strike since February 15, forcing the government to send in army and police doctors to care for patients.Just last year, a regional drought largely induced by the El Nino weather phenomenon killed livestock and forced people to forage for food in forests and seek drinking water from parched river beds in many parts of Zimbabwe.For weeks heavy rains have been pouring in Zimbabwe, especially southern parts of the country, ending a years long drought."The only thing we managed to save is that suitcase with a few clothes," said Joice Ncube, another villager.Five bridges on major highways have been swept away nationwide, Transport Minister Joram Gumbo said."We lost all our blankets, pots and cooking utensils, our goats and chickens as well because of the heavy rains," Mkwananzi told The Associated Press in the southern district of Tsholotsho, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Bulawayo.