Lightning struck ten cattle at Shaditata Village in the Mukwe Constituency of the Kavango East Region.

It started raining heavily on Saturday evening, while the Muhora family was preparing to plow the next day.

When lightning struck, the family says they witnessed a bright light from the hut where they were sitting.

Venturing outside to inspect what had happened, Mukoya Muhora says they initially thought the lightning had hit a tree.

That was until they came upon eight cattle lying dead in the kraal, while two more lay dead under a nearby tree.

"It's going to be difficult for us to survive now; we have lost 10 cows, and we don't know how we are going to live from now on. All these people you are seeing are from this house. We have about 12 fields, and we have only plowed two so far for ground nuts; we have not planted mahangu and other seeds yet. We don't know how we are going to survive; we depend on farming. We hear about hunger from others; we never experienced it, but this is going to be a difficult year for us."

Mukoya says the family would at times generate an income by renting out their cattle to work other people's fields.

In addition, they would harvest mahangu, which they would then sell to generate an income and support their school-going children.

"We are feeling pain, I knew how to feed my family, we depend on farming for a living, and now that I lost my cattle, I don't know what to do. The cattle we get milk from are dead, and the ones we once used for plowing are dead. It is going to be difficult for us from now on."
 
The family of 36 is calling on good Samaritans to assist them with oxen to help them plough their land.