Lives washed away: A mother's loss in Mozambique

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Maria Jofresse, 25, holds a stuffed toy she received for her seventh birthday as she stands where her house stood, in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, outside the village of Cheia, which means "Flood" in Portuguese, near Beira, Mozambique. Maria Jofresse lost her two children to the storm. In the midst of the floods, she dug their small graves but can't find them anymore. "People suffered indeed but no one suffered as I did because I lost the most precious things I had - my kids," she said. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Maria Jofresse waits to receive humanitarian aid at a camp for people displaced in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, in John Segredo, near Beira, Mozambique. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Maria Jofresse walks at the edge of the Muda River to meet her father Joao Jofresse, who works on a water taxi. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Maria Jofresse watches her mother Ester Thoma preparing food beside their damaged house. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Maria Jofresse walks with her parents to a camp for the displaced. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Maria Jofresse walks behind her mother-in-law Teresa Miquitaio, 49, as she carries wood to build a makeshift shelter. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Ester Thoma cooks at her damaged house in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Tchacaca Quembo stands at her damaged house in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, in the village of Cheia. In 2000, Quembo's home in the community of Quanuno was wrecked by severe floods. In the aftermath of that disaster, the government moved her to a place it regarded as safer, a place that would become known as Cheia, or "Flood" in Portuguese, after those who were relocated there. In March 2019, Cyclone Idai hit her new home. "The wind ripped the roof off the house," she said. "I escaped from the disaster by standing in the water all these days (from Friday to Sunday) inside my bedroom.. Everything we had perished." (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

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Tchacaca Quembo stands outside her damaged house in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai. (REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)