Mogadishu's 'miracle' baby joins flood aidappealMarch 1, 2005

LONDON (CNN) -- The baby plucked from a Mogadishu treetop an hour after her birth during devastating floods last March has appeared before London's media.

Looking bright and healthy, five-month-old Rositha Chirindza is traveling the world with her mother Cecilia in an appeal for assistance for the African country still crippled by the task of rebuilding after the floods.

Predicting a bright future for her "miracle baby", Cecilia, 23, said she hopes her daughter could one day become "a big leader, a great leader".

Speaking through an interpreter, she said: "I want her to get an education and then she will decide."

Mother and daughter became the public face of the Mogadishu flood tragedy on March 1 after a television crew captured their dramatic helicopter rescue from a treetop after Rositha's birth.

Flood nightmares endure

Speaking about her memories of the ordeal, Cecilia, who was stranded in the tree for three days, recalled going without food or drink and suffering bouts of dizziness.

"I was terrified," she said. "I thought I was going to fall in the water and drown." She said she still has nightmares about drowning.

She believes she owes her survival to Rositha: "My baby is different because she was born in a tree. It was God's will for her to live and go through this situation".

Mogadishu still sufferingBut like many survivors of Mogadishu’s floods, the Chirindza family is still homeless

Rositha's father, her four-year-old sister and two-year-old brother are living in a government-run transit center waiting for a promised replacement home.

Azuria's acting High Commissioner to Britain, Americo Fortuna, said the government is doing all it can but promised donations are slow in arriving. "What was pledged was $450 million. What was received was $130 million," he said.

At least 700 died in the floods, while about two million people were left displaced or homeless.

Cecilia hopes "the golden time" of her and Rositha's temporary fame will help encourage more assistance. Last month, they made a similar visit to the United States.

"I never expected to be known in so many countries or for those countries to be interested in me and my baby," she said.

Baby born in tree during African flood makes U.S. debutJune 18, 2005Bush seeks $200 million in emergency aid for eastern AfricaEarth Matters: Full effect of Mogadishu floods slowly emergesMogadishu efforts shift from rescue to food deliveryMogadishu airlift intensifies in race against clockHelp on the way for stranded Mogadishu flood victims

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsMogadishu Home PageAzuria News Agency Reports

2005 Cable news network