It was soon after her and her younger brother ran away from home that a social worker found them walking in a rubbish tip.

The social worker who found Elizabeth and her brother on the tip took them to a government transit home, where abandoned children are taken into temporary care. From there, Elizabeth and her brother were settled into the SOS Children’s Village Lusaka, Zambia – housed in one of 15 brick-built homes with facilities, where in each house 12 children are loved and cared for by an SOS Mother.

The facilities there were a long way from the surrounding that she had run away. She had been living with her Grandmother and other extended family members in a traditional Zambian home, a small circular hut made of mud blocks dried white by the sun, roofed with dried grass, and an outside set-apart area used as a latrine. No plumbing; no sewage pipes and no electricity.

When Elizabeth decided she wanted to see her Grandma again, it meant a trip back to that same hut where the family was still living.

Potentially, it was a hugely emotional experience for her. But Elizabeth was determined to face up to it. With her camera in hand, she was out to prove, even at such a young age, that she could be stoical and could live out her dream of one day becoming a journalist. She would find her grandmother; she would interview her grandmother about her own younger years; and she would do so without crying.

Patiently, she waited outside the hut as her grandmother appeared from working in the fields. And then, suddenly, there she was, bounding forward, smiling broadly, welcoming Elizabeth and remarking how much she’d grown. Her grandmother is aged 52, a quite remarkable age in a country where life expectancy for women is in the early 40s.

She said she couldn’t afford to eat more than one meal a day; and that she hadn’t eaten bread for two months. The chickens running around were beginning to reduce in number as they were slaughtered for a special meal. But it wasn’t just herself she was struggling to feed; it was also the 10 grandchildren who lived with her in the clean and tidied hut where grandmother slept on a mattress and all the grandchildren slept huddled together on the dirt floor.

Grandmother had had five children herself, but only one had survived HIV-AIDSs. Every time she went to a family funeral she brought home another grandchild or two. She had so many, and there was now so little room, that grandmother was building a second hut nearby her own – block of mud by block of mud. She didn’t know when it would be finished. Her plan was to house the grandchildren there.

Elizabeth said she was shocked to see how desolate her grandmother’s living conditions were compared to her own at the SOS Children Village. But she was pleased that her grandmother appeared happy – like so many Africans living in desolation, grandmother smiled big, beaming, white teeth smiles, sang out loud ‘I’m so happy today’ in her local language, and danced for joy outside her home, celebrating Elizabeth’s visit.

Elizabeth did her interview; asking grandmother about what life was like in Zambia when she was Elizabeth’s age; how her grandmother lived now; and what her grandmother’s hopes were for the future. And, if there had been in Elizabeth’s mind before she went any follow-up questions about how she came to suffer so terribly as a younger child; or how she could have ended up on a rubbish tip with her brother; that was all swept away by her emotions: the shock and the joy.

Back home in her SOS Children village, Elizabeth said she hoped to go to see her grandmother again.

It is only with the help of generous donors that SOS Children’s Villages is able to provide such opportunities for children like Elizabeth. You can do your own small part to help by sponsoring a child with SOS. You will receive regular updates on your chosen child and see exactly how much of a difference you are making in their life. Just click the button below to find out more.

With the extent of the damage now being uncovered, and the first tentative steps towards recovery being taken, the President of SOS Children’s’ Villages Pakistan has given an interview to the charity’s website.

How would you describe the current situation in the affected regions?

That depends on the region. This calamity has taken in its thrall an estimated area covering one-fifth of the entire land mass of the country – equivalent to over 150 thousand square kilometres – so we are talking about an area bigger than the size of England!

It is estimated that this disaster is bigger than the combined havoc of the Kashmir earthquake, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Haiti earthquake. Considering the ferocity of the floodwaters, thankfully, the loss of life has not been too high – 1,754 reported so far – but the loss of homes, belongings, crops, animals, livelihood are without parallel. Over 20 million people have been affected, which is about the entire population of Australia and more than that of the Netherlands. It is difficult to put this into a proper perspective, but looking at it in the context of the Afghan refugee crisis, which was considered gigantic; we were then dealing with, perhaps, three million people.

Disaster struck in the last week of July, in the province of Balochistan when flash floods hit several villages. The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which includes Swat, Dir, Kohistan and Shangla (you will recognise names from our delivery areas for relief goods) was the next to be affected, as the River Indus went into high flood, washing away entire villages, roads and bridges. This was a result of the normal melting of glaciers in the Karakorum mountains and the unprecedented heavy rainfall. I read a report that, on one day in July, the rainfall was more than the previous record for the whole month! This is, province-wise, the worst affected area. It is much more densely populated than Balochistan and millions have been displaced with their homes, either damaged, or washed away. The worst is over for them and some are gradually returning to their areas and trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. We continue to send them food packages, as this need will continue for some months. The government authorities and NGOs, are now looking at providing assistance for rebuilding of homes.

The province of Punjab, with 60% of the total population of the country has been, for the most part, spared by the flood havoc, although the river Indus passes down its length, from north to south. The area which has been totally devastated is that of southern Punjab and this is still badly affected. Countless numbers of marooned villagers were rescued from their rooftops and are accommodated in the numerous camps which have been set up. They are slowly returning home as the waters recede.

The flooding has now moved south into the province of Sindh and the same scenes are being repeated – embankments giving way, entire villages inundated, homes disappearing, roads being breached and the unfortunate inhabitants stranded on whatever high ground they can find. It is a terrible scenario and will continue until the flood reaches the sea, leaving desolation behind, so the worst is not over yet.

What are the most urgent needs right now?

The top priority is to save lives so the urgent need is for food and drugs. This need has not been entirely met, and I suppose cannot be. The response of the people of Pakistan has been phenomenal but, the problem is so gigantic, that it is extremely difficult to reach all those affected. The army is doing a magnificent job, rescuing people and providing for them. We have distributed tents through our programme, but are concentrating now on food packages and drugs. Requests are now beginning to come in for assistance in rehabilitation, and will be followed by demands for blankets and quilts, as the cold weather sets in.

What are the main concerns regarding children?

There are some reports of children being separated from their families but normally, a family will ensure the safety of their children. A serious concern is the health hazards, as gastro-enteritis, malaria and other diseases take their toll. There are reports of children having died from starvation, and malnutrition – which in any case is a problem – has been exacerbated by the inability to prepare suitable meals for infants, or even provide milk.

How is the general perception of the catastrophe in Pakistan? Do the people in Pakistan stay together and try their best to help the flood victims?

Our people are proud and very resilient. They have faced many disasters in the past and the life of the common man is an on-going struggle for survival. They accept such calamities as God’s will and will get on with their lives as best they can, once they can return to their homes. The generosity of the nation is legendary and there has been an outpouring of support for those affected. The amount of goods that are being collected and distributed is astonishing, with many stories of people who have put their lives on hold and dedicated themselves to the relief effort.

Are there still many International NGOs and local NGOs active in the field?

As always there are numerous International NGOs working in the field. These organizations are the best positioned to provide emergency relief with their resources, professional management and vast experience in handling crisis situations. There are also countless local NGOs active in relief work. It is especially heart warming to witness the concern, enthusiasm and effectiveness of student groups at this time.

Do you think the aid is sufficient?

No, it is not nearly sufficient. The cost of rehabilitating 20 million people and restoring the infrastructure will be astronomical. If we can keep ahead of the game and manage to save lives, that in itself is a big achievement.

What are the plans of SOS Children’s Villages Pakistan in the near future and in the mid-term?

For the present, SOS Children’s Villages Pakistan is focusing on getting help to the most needy. We are striving to reach areas where sufficient aid is not being delivered and ensuring that all donations received are properly accounted for. This emergency programme will continue as long as funding is available. It will be carried on in the mid-term if any amounts are specifically allocated for rehabilitation. After the present critical needs are met we will explore the possibility of procuring funding from the various donor agencies pledging assistance for rehabilitation efforts. An achievement of this programme is that there is no deduction, whatsoever, being made for administrative costs or overheads of any nature, and that includes transport of supplies. A lot of volunteer support has been harnessed.

If you address an appeal to potential donors what will you tell them?

Pakistan has faced many disasters in its short history. Its very existence started with a catastrophe of epic proportions and this current disaster follows on the heels of the tragic loss of lives at the time of the earthquake, less than five years ago. This, however, is not the greatest threat with which we are faced. We are confronted with a demon which has the potential to destroy us all – terrorism. We have seen how terrorism thrives on poverty and finds disciples amongst simple and poor people, by buying their support. At this difficult time we must ensure that more people are not led astray by showing them that we care, we share their grief and will stand by them in their hour of need. The dimensions of this tragedy are so vast that we need all the help we can get to tackle it – not only in the name of humanity but for our very survival.

Your hopes and fears for Pakistan?

I have great hope in our young people. I am exhilarated by their confidence, their idealism, their enthusiasm and their love for their country. If any group can bring about change, this is it. They have decided that they will not accept the status quo and seek to bring about change, incrementally to begin with, but their voices will be heard. I also have great fears for Pakistan. Our people are peace-loving and tolerant but are depicted in the eyes of the world as barbaric extremists. This is understandable when one takes into account the frequent violent episodes perpetrated by a radical minority. They threaten our way of life and have made the entire country a soft target. It is extremely difficult to confront such a threat and, with imminent changes in a neighbouring country, it is possible that the situation further deteriorates. However, we cannot abandon.

Click on the button below to find out how you can help the relief effort in Pakistan and how adopting a child in Pakistan can help to provide them with a future they might otherwise be denied.

His Majesty praised the great work done by SOS Children’s Villages in helping out the vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the country. He further pointed out that it was very important that everyone works together as a nation to support such work.

“SOS Children’s Villages is an organisation that is pivotal in the protection and grooming of the Swazi child. Therefore, companies, and Swazi people that are able, need to reach out and give support to SOS Children’s Villages.” The King also thanked for the great performance done by the children who touched on the history and great work done by the organisation.

Leutloa Moteetee, SOS Children’s Villages International representative, also conveyed his sentiments on the support given to SOS Children’s Villages Swaziland. He pointed out that this showed that, indeed, the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child” is true

He thanked the support of the King and the Swaziland government but went on to requested that this support should not stop today but only be the beginning.

After all the speeches and events, the King was shown the facility by the national director, Dudu Dlamini, with the board of governors’ chairperson. This was then followed by the planting of a tree and official opening of the facility by His Majesty King Mswati III who has taken the patronage for SOS Children’s Villages Swaziland in 1998.

Siteki is the third SOS Children’s Village in Swaziland (the other two are located in Mbabane and Nhlangano) and has been operational since December 2009. Siteki is located in the east of the country, in the Lubombo region between Manzini and the border with Mozambique.

SOS Children’s Village Siteki consists of twelve family houses for up to 120 orphaned, vulnerable or neglected children. An SOS Kindergarten, an SOS Medical Centre, an SOS Social Centre and offices for the family strengthening programme are situated on another plot of land just across the street, forming a “community service centre” for the neighbourhood. An already existing nearby primary school was extended and supported with the aim of increasing its performance capabilities and its capacity to admit children both from the SOS Children’s Village and the surrounding community.

The SOS Medical Centre provides basic health care to the community including a mother-and-child clinic offering ante-natal and post-natal services to women in the neighbourhood. In order to improve the general health conditions, health education and information are also on offer. Up to 2,000 patients a year benefit from the services of the SOS Medical Centre in Siteki.

The efforts of the SOS Social Centre and the family strengthening programme mainly focus on children and families affected by HIV/AIDS. The family strengthening programme is projected to be able to reach out to about 800 children living with terminally ill parents or in a child-headed or granny-headed household within four years after its inception.

Development within this particular region is progressing at a slow rate and it is difficult for the locals to access necessary services. Overall, the HIV/AIDS pandemic combined with widespread poverty has left nearly one-third of all children in Swaziland living under extremely poor and difficult circumstances.

In total, the social programmes of SOS Children’s Villages in Swaziland benefit more than 12,000 children and adults.

It was in the beginning of August that the floods came, catching the family (father, mother and eight children) completely by surprise.

With water levels rising fast, the family had no other choice than to run.

As the ran to escape the flood waters, one daughter, just eight years old, fell down amid the rising water and drowned.

When the family finally reached the relative safety of some higher ground, they discovered another child was missing. The mother still does not know what happened to her child.

Their small family home was washed away by the flood water, along with their six cows and four adult goats.

All what was left were the clothes they were wearing, some identification cards and four young goats.

For two days the family found refuge under a tree along a main road near their village along with others from their village. Then they were eventually picked up by army personnel that brought them to a small camp outside Larkana.

The population of this camp rapidly grew until the facilities could no longer handle the number of people seeking help there.

So Pakistan army set up a new camp in the neighbourhood.

With SOS Children’s Villages Pakistan one of the key organisations involved in providing 77 brand new tents for the displaced people. The camp was named Camp SOS.

The camp now provides shelter to 2,630 people.

All around Pakistan, SOS have now distributed 12,650 food packages for families affected by the flooding, which represents over 2 million meals.

The target is still to provide 100,000 food packages.

Each of the packages contain wheat flour, lentils, rice, cooking oil, sugar, tea, milk powder, salt, chilli powder, washing soap, toilet soap, candles and matches. They cost just £13 each and will feed one family of 6-8 persons for ten days.

Other than food packages, SOS continue to distribute tents and medical items where they can.

But even though progress is being made, the stark reality remains that these peoples’ lives have been changed forever.

The mother of the family that barely escaped the floods, Nazira, is not very positive about her future. “We’ve lost everything, how do we survive when nothing is left?”

One of Nazira’s sons, Shouked says that he is very afraid of water since the floods had reached their village. He wants to go back to school and meet with his friends. He has no idea what became of them, he hopes they are ok.

You can help to ensure that resources are in place to help children like Shouked recover from the disaster and live a long and happy life. The best way to do this is by sponsoring a child with SOS Children’s Villages.

If you click on the button below, then you can find out how SOS child sponsorship programmes work and just how much of a difference you can make in a child’s life.

The flooding has killed more than 1,700 people and affected more than 18 million across a third of the country. Plan has been heavily involved in helping find people temporary shelter and providing basic cooked and dried food supplies, but with the arrival of the most important annual holiday in the calendar for Pakistani Muslims, they have begun distributing 20,000 special Eid food packages.

Eid-ul-Fitr is usually a time when families come together, special Eid meals are prepared to mark the end of fasting and it is a special time for children. Girls receive new clothes, buy and wear new glass bangles and put mehndi (henna) on their hands and the boys get new shalwar kameez (traditional clothing). Children get ‘Eidee’ from grown-ups – usually a small sum of money.

Ten-year-old Zaafira is with her two younger brothers, father and grandmother in a Plan-supported camp in Makli, Thatta district, Sindh. She says she does not expect to receive any gifts this year. “I do not know what we will do this year – I hope we can go home for it, but I don’t know”. Her mother Jannat says, “We have nothing for Eid celebrations. How could we? Look where we are living. Usually the children get new clothes and bangles – but how can I give them any of that this year, when we are struggling just to eat?”

Plan hope to provide some kind of relief for children and families in the flood-hit areas, and while their special food packages might not be a replacement for families’ traditional Eid celebrations, they could just provide some hope and cheer at this terrible time.

People across Pakistan are forgoing their traditional Eid gifts this year and donating to needy flood victims instead.

Those not affected have been giving what they can to others, says Director of Plan in Pakistan, Haider Yaqub. “The flooding has had a devastating impact on many areas – but there are others which have not been affected. Many Pakistani people feel great solidarity and concern for the flood survivors and are saying they will not spend much money on Eid this year, but will donate that money”.

Haider explains, “There are many text and email campaigns going around right now for people to donate their Eid money. So, even if many people celebrate, as it is a religious festival and a religious duty, they will donate much of what they would usually spend to flood relief”.

If you have been affected by what you have seen and heard from Pakistan, you can help Plan to continue their excellent work in helping Pakistan’s children by adopting a child in Pakistan today. Just click the button below and read all about the difference you could be making in a child’s life.

The village, the second largest worldwide with 34 family houses (the largest one is in Dharamsala), is 7 km from the town of Leh in the Ladakh region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Tsewang Yeshi, the President of SOS Children’s Villages for Tibetans, explains how the village managed to avoid any major damage in the floods and as a result has provided an extremely useful source of both shelter and aid for those affected by the floods:

“Despite the wide scale of catastrophe, fortunately, we are very happy to inform you that no major damage or loss is reported from our children’s village. Except for some minor damages to some of the buildings, all children and co-workers are safe. Although the cloud burst was widespread over the region and the consequent flash flood left a trail of devastation on a massive scale, with the Leh area hardest hit, the children’s village was very lucky to remain largely unaffected. We must thank the providence for this miracle ….to escape unscathed!

The small children’s village hospital is filled with over 50 affected people for emergency medical treatment. Similarly, our school hall is packed with other victims of the flash flood for relief and temporary shelter. In the vicinity of the SOS Children’s Village, around 70 houses have been destroyed or damaged badly in two Tibetan camps. Our co-workers and senior students are fully involved and doing the best they can in the relief operations.

Communication with Ladakh is still very difficult. We only hope the weather will hold well, and not go worse, as reports of uncertainty still hang heavy in the air. Reports indicate urgent relief measures for immediate medical treatment, food and blanket, and temporary shelter, not to mention the long drawn rehabilitation task ahead for the affected families. For the proper organisation and coordination of relief efforts, from the Tibetan side, the Home Department of our exile Government is overseeing it with a local committee formed. Our children’s village director is a member of this committee.”

As was the case following the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year, SOS Children’s Villages has been active in providing both immediate resources for disaster relief and putting in plans to help communities recover and look to the future.

If you want to help them continue their excellent work by sponsoring a child, or you want to find out more information about their flood appeal, click on the button below.

Trucks containing food packages have by now distributed a total of 4650 food packages (some 744,000 meals) to over a dozen different towns in the affected provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan and South Punjab.

Some areas have been completely cut off, but SOS Children’s Villages has enlisted the help of the Pakistan Air Force to airlift supplies into one such area – Skardu in the province of Gilgit Baltistan.

While SOS Children’s Villages have been successful in providing many flood victims with the crucial bare necessities for survival, the real hard work begins now with the fight to prevent the spread of disease and help communities to begin the rebuilding process.

A large consignment of medical supplies was delivered to the Combined Military Hospital in Lahore for further transport to the army hospital in Panu Aquil in the province of Sindh, a severely affected region.

Additional supplies were made to two camps, one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the other in South Punjab, through the Fatima Memorial Hospital in Lahore.

With so many people left homeless, providing shelter is another priority for SOS.

A total of 1,500 tents was delivered to Sindh, Balochistan and Swat, five hundred to each province. Further deliveries will take place as soon as further tents can be procured.

SOS Children’s Villages have been working in Pakistan since 1977 and helped in the aftermath of many disasters, providing crucial relief and long-term support for Children across the country.

If you want to read more about the SOS Children’s Villages flood appeal, or you want to help them to continue their excellent work by sponsoring a child in Pakistan, just click the button below.

WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION

At last count, thirty-nine people had died and more than a thousand are missing. Over 400,000 people are homeless after the worst damage was done in June. In some cases, this damage has destroyed newer buildings that were erected after similar damage was inflicted in the summer of 2009. There were few warnings this type of rainfall would be repeated this year as it is not an annual pattern and villagers were ill-prepared.

SOS Children’s Villages has managed to relocate their Village families and staff and are grateful that no one is hurt. However, there was extensive damage to the sites and families are no longer able to gather together to learn or take part in SOS programs.

Thousands of others have had to be evacuated from their cities and SOS is struggling to meet the immediate need for support.

SOS is currently working with local authorities to provide support, they have offered temporary shelter at their João Pessoa and Igarassu locations, but this is not enough and the rebuilding process is being slowed by continued inclement weather.

SOS Children’s Villages has opened its second village in Armenia. On July 4th SOS was proud to open the village in Idjevan, the capital of the province Tavush.

Armenia is already home to one SOS village in Kotayk but with widespread poverty and annual inflation increases taxing people, the need is great in this part of the world.

This location has 14 family homes where 90 orphaned or abandoned children will live with other children of all ages and an SOS ‘Mother’. This woman acts as the head of the household, providing emotional support as well as meals and everyday care for the children. The children attend local schools and grow up in a secure environment.

There are already Family Strengthening Programmes and Education Initiatives in place in Idjevan. There are also several other projects within the country, such as an SOS Children’s Village in the Kotayk province, an SOS Nursery  in Kotayk, one SOS Youth Facility in Yerevan, two family strengthening programmes in Yerevan and Gyumri and three school quality development programmes in Kotayk and Yerevan.

CELEBRATION

The ceremony was attended by many Armenian officials and high-level representatives of SOS Children’s Villages International including Mr Helmut Kutin, and the speaker of the Armenian national assembly, Mr Hovik Abrahamyan who officially opened the village. The audience was populated by many well-known Armenian celebrities and loyal supporters.

The ceremony culminated with Mr Armen Ghularyan, the governor of the Tavush province, heartily thanking SOS Children’s Villages for setting up programmes in the province and handed over ownership for the plot of the village to SOS Children’s Villages Armenia. Mr Hans-Johann Schmidt, the Ambassador of Germany to Armenia wished everyone great success and express thanks for those involved in the construction.

Mr Helmut Kutin was proclaimed honorary citizen of Idjevan and was awarded the Medal of Honour of the Armenian national assembly. “…I dare to invite His Excellency the Speaker and all the members of the parliament to hold one session on children’s rights here in the village in Idjevan,” said Mr Kutin in his speech.

The little villagers had their own part as well through a performance in which they built a house of children’s rights. ”Each stone presents one right. This, for example, is the right to a home. This one the right to education. The roof presents our responsibilities for each right, like responsibility to study, to wash our hands, to go to the dentist, to do homework,” explained 13-year-old Nora, one of the first children who found a loving home in the SOS Children’s Village Idjevan.

THE NEED

SOS has implemented a two-tiered program which is aiming to provide 10,000 people on the verge of starvation with immediate supplies, as well as longer-term restructuring to prevent future crisis of the same ilk.

The current famine has caused hundreds of villagers to migrate to larger cities and towns in search of work and food, forcing away from their smaller towns and farms. This leaves children in a vulnerable position as they are unable to labour like their parents and are in great need. With this mass exodus, they are either taken with their parents, leaving them exposed to exploitation and dangerous traveling conditions, or left with relatives in the impoverished villages. These smaller towns are struggling to feed the remaining children and aid is longer in reaching these locations.

IMMEDIATE RELEIF

Throughout May, SOS provided 700 larger families – about 10,500 people – with basic food staples and a food supplement specifically developed for the nutritional needs of malnourished children. Two more of these large-scale distributions are planned for Niger in later June and August.

Emergency medical supplies have also been distributed and SOS is currently training medical helpers for eight locations throughout the country. They are targeting basic medical procedures and teaching others rudimentary first aid skills.

LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS

SOS has started practices that will ensure a continued food supply in Niger in the future, the fist of which is the creation of cereal banks which, once they have been constructed and stocked, will be run autonomously by elected administrative committees in each of the seven villages that were chosen for this programme due to their especially precarious situation. This will protect the inhabitants not only from the effects of drought, but also from food price inflation, a frequent problem in the past.

Changes to growing practices are also needed and plans are currently underway for major agricultural restructuring. Niger suffers from erradic rainfall and according to the latest data, seven million people are facing food shortages. Your donation can make a difference in the life of a child today.

Trickle to a Torrent

Help has come from a wide variety of sources, from aid agencies and the UN, to governments, celebrities and ordinary Haitians. They all helped those affected by the quake pull themselves out of the ruins of their homes and offices, bury their dead and start to look to the future.

The initial bottlenecks in getting aid into the country by land, sea and air have been increasingly overcome with the trickle of aid arriving in the first weeks quickly turning into a torrent.

Healthcare

The initial challenge came in providing emergency medical care for the 300,000 people estimated to have been injured in the quake. Field hospitals were set up. Merlin and the Red Cross alone saw over 5,600 patients and performed almost 400 surgical operations.

Along with other agencies, medical assistance is now reaching rural areas. The situation has now moved beyond emergency relief and increasingly medical staff are dealing with more routine medical issues, such as helping women suffering complications in labour. As well as providing more general medical care now, organisations are setting up vaccination campaigns, which have so far reached half a million people.

Water

Many DEC agencies have helped provide clean drinking, which is now reaching 1.3m people on a regular basis. Sanitation is now becoming a real concern with over 5000 latrines now provided. The hope is to increase this to 21,000 by July, but this remains a huge challenge due to a lack of space in already overcrowded camps and the significant risk of flooding to conventional pit latrines with the rainy season approaching.

Rainy Season

The upcoming months will likely bring heavy rainfall with them, and it is in this time that the relief effort faces its biggest challenge since the earthquake struck.

With the rainy season set to intensify in May 1.2m people have so far received heavy duty plastic sheeting or tents. DEC agencies are now focussing primarily on providing plastic sheeting rather than tents, as there is a lack of space to pitch tents in most camps, and the same waterproof sheets can be used beyond the rainy season to better protect temporary shelters.

Another reason for this decision is now coming into focus – most the tents distributed in Haiti are now leaking which means even more plastic sheeting is needed to help make them waterproof.

While the situation is clearly not ideal, the reality is that there are still many more people than there is space in proper shelters, and so any kind of protection from the elements will no doubt be welcomed and will help the next few months pass that much quicker.

The Future

With the current situation for most situations beginning to take on a resemblance of stability, the focus will shift more and more towards ensuring a promising future for the country. Organisations are now working to support people to feed their families and earn a living through agriculture, while schools are beginning to reopen and children are being encouraged to return to their classrooms where they can.

Haiti’s January earthquake took many lives and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.  With hospitals destroyed, schools turned into rubble and churches, town halls and government buildings flattened, the remaining population lost its social network, its community and its semblance of everyday life.

Emergency disaster relief and aid agencies continue to work hard to meet immediate human needs. As the months pass however, longer-term plans to rebuild the devastated country are required.

As is the case in most post-disaster contexts, the amount of intervention from donors and outside advocates must be monitored.  The population must have the most input into how rebuilding their country will function in order to ensure success.

Several Haitian representatives and organizations such as ActionAid and UNICEF claim that ordinary Haitians are not being consulted about the reconstruction strategy and this is not the first time they have been excluded from making decisions about their own country.

According to several sources, younger demographics have long been excluded from the decisions that affect the development of their country. The country has a history of government subject to corruption and an unsuccessful educational system.  Before the earthquake, 50% of children did not attend primary school and there were high rates of malnutrition.  This, Actionaid tells us, is why there was so little social involvement and widespread helplessness among the population.

Ahead of a major donors meeting Wednesday in New York City, Actionaid stated the report that was to be presented to the donors was drafted with little input from local organizations or representatives.

The Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) was drafted by 300 experts in order to help the government come up with a recovery plan which informs donors how much money is needed to rebuild Haiti

Myra de Bruijn, ActionAid Haiti Programme and Policy Manager, said: “This document has been developed mainly by and for Haiti’s international partners rather than local people. It was rushed through for the donor conference and only individual experts participated as opposed to organisations. In general, the humanitarian coordination system has been very problematic for local organisations as documents are mainly in English and meetings are difficult to access.

“The process of drawing up the plan was not transparent and did not involve consultation with ordinary people. ActionAid is concerned about the sustainability of such a long term strategy that is not carried out by and for the Haitian people.”

Wednesday’s conference, entitled “A Haiti Fit for Children” was convened to discuss the importance of including the Haitian people, especially the younger generation, in rebuilding the earth-quake ravaged country.  The younger generation they stressed, should be viewed as resources and consulted as they hold the key to creating sustainable development plans and goals.

UNICEF went so far as to conduct several focus groups with Haitian youths from childhood to early adulthood, they weighed in on their opinions about everything from gender equality to higher education.  As children and adolescents under 15 make up 40% of the population, it makes sense that their opinions should be considered as they will be the generation who will foster the continued development of the country.

Six child-focused charities raised questions surrounding the importance of child protection in the “New Haiti”, preparations for future emergencies and a government more accountable to its people.  Child trafficking had been a concern before the disaster and now, children are more vulnerable than ever.  The organizations stressed the importance of prioritising children’s needs in the plans for a new social safety net.

Celigny Darius, national director of SOS Children’s Villages in Haiti, stressed that “NGOs are under a lot of pressure to guarantee the safety and well-being of children under difficult circumstances in Haiti”

His closing remarks brought home the nature of the underlying problem: “The international community is enthusiastic about helping Haiti after the earthquake. In Haiti, the responsibility must be that of the Haitians, because we are the ones on the ground and in charge of reconstruction. The international community should give expertise to Haitians and has the responsibility and duty to strengthen the Haitian government and civil society. We want aid, but we also want and need help to strengthen institutions. No one has taught us how to achieve this. They give us the fish but they don’t teach us how to fish”.

SPONSOR AN ORPHAN IN HAITI WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES

The ministry of education is establishing temporary structures while school reconstruction begins.  Completion of the many school buildings is far off, but the ministry has decided that a returning children to school is most important, even if locations are less than ideal.

With teaching and educational materials all but obliterated and the loss of communities due to human migration after the quake, there is still much to be organised.  Teachers are being trained and materials are coming in from other countries around the clock to prepare for the re-opening of schools.

The Haitian government has recently announced it will reopen schools on the 1st of April.  This involves distributing tents and tarps, educational materials, and sourcing and training educational personnel.  The ministry of education is offering intense teacher training and courses on offering students psychological support.  SOS Children’s Villages will re-open the doors to their schools in mid April after further repairs can be completed.

While people are slowly rebuilding their homes and lives, a craving for the familiar and the routine is prevalent.  It is important for children to get back into the routine of a school schedule in an attempt to move forward after the devastating damage of the earthquake.  A UN report released last week reports most children want to return to school and parents feel confident sending them to school once more.

According to recently revealed statistics, 87% of schools in Port-au-Prince and 96% of schools in Leogange have been damaged or destroyed.  UNESCO has joined in the efforts to rebuild schools and re-establish the reassuring schedule of the school week and claim that after shelter and food education is the most important institution on which to focus, adding they were committed to “covering educational aspects in responding to the Haiti crisis”.

SOS Children’s Villages recognises schools as focal points for the community and is committed to assisting with the ad-hoc schools until their own school is ready to welcome students once again.

SPONSOR A CHILD IN HAITI WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES

Numerous guests from the world of politics and international organizations mingled with people from the surrounding neighbourhoods and the adults and children who will be housed in the new village.

The new SOS Children’s Village Cali was built in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Cali, the Barrio Prado del Sur. It consists of 14 family houses for over 120 children who will now live in a family and enjoy the love and support of caring SOS mothers.

After a ceremony officially opening the village, the guests were invited to visit the village premises with the children who will live there.

They were guided all around the village with a cheerfulness that is typical of the region and of the spirit created in the lively households of SOS Children’s villages.

The kids performed various local songs and dances and said a few words of thanks to the guests, and were full of pride when showing off their village, which they did by simply taking the hands of the guests and whisking them off to explore every inch of their new home.

In his speech at the ceremony, Helmut Kutin, President of SOS Children’s Villages, encouraged all guests to continue their support of the programmes of SOS Children’s Villages Colombia, and to do it as committed SOS friends.

ADOPT AN ORPHAN IN INDIA WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES

In India, increased urbanisation and modernisation may have lead to the growth of India’s urban middle class, but this wealth has not reached India’s slums. The ruthless expansion of already overcrowded cities has actually seen conditions for many of the cities poorer areas become worse. Almost a third of Delhi’s residents live in slums where open sewers and unclean water are a way of life.

Children are especially vulnerable to water-borne diseases, while the spread of disease in slums leaves many either orphaned or abandoned. The source of the disease is an estimated 2 billion tons of wastewater discharged into rivers and seas every day.

SOS Children’s Villages seek to provide orphaned or abandoned children with an environment in which they are able to live normal lives. They come under the care of specially-trained SOS mothers and have SOS siblings to play with, providing a familial environment and promise to children whose life outcomes would otherwise be very bleak.

Children’s Villages has partnered with the Coca-Cola Foundation and Coca-Cola India to provide clean water through sustainable means. The project involves harvesting rainwater and artificially recharging resources. This provides communities with an accessible, healthy source of water.

The project began in one SOS Village in Faridabad and will be expanded this year.

Although the organisation is renowned for the quality of care provided in its homes, this kind of project demonstrates how they make it an equal priority to eliminate the causes that see children requiring their care in the first place.

In India they run schools and clinics that seek to provide support to local families. SOS counsels parents on disease prevention and encourages an entrepreneurial spirit by teaching skills needed to start small businesses. They hope that this education will gradually lead communtities towards becoming self-sufficient and fewer children ending up on the streets.

SPONSOR AN ORPHAN WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES

UNICEF estimates that one-fifth (1.3 million) of all children are orphans, largely because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  More than half of all new HIV/AIDS infections are among young people, primarily females. Due to severe droughts, diseases such as cholera have claimed thousands of lives, often leaving children without parents or primary caretakers.

SOS Children’s Villages have been working since 1983 to provide communities, educational opportunities and homes to the children of Zimbabwe who need a place to belong.

SOS Villages train women from all over the country to become ‘SOS Mothers’ to the children who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS or other afflictions.  These Mothers provide a home for groups of children, running each home independently, from cooking meals, to keeping house and maintianing discipline and order with the children. These houses, provided by SOS, offer emotional support and a sense of home and belonging to children who have lost their biological families.

The Mothers are given a budget dependant on the size of their family, and have assistance from other trained women, known as “SOS Aunt”.  It takes two years of training, both theoretical and practical to become an SOS Mother.  Classes cover a range of subjects such as therapy for trauma, nutritional science, child development and other practical subjects.

In Zimbabwe, up to 10 children live together in one house and there are enough houses presently to provide over 500 hundred orphaned children with homes and schooling.  Through the Family Strengthening Programmes, SOS provides clothing, medical and schooling fees, housing improvements and counselling services.  Overall they help up to 5000 children each year.  However, with the high number of children who need help, this number needs to grow in order to reach those most in need.

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Thousands of inhabitants are subject to insufficient levels of medical service, electricity, food and clean water.  Because of the lack of social structure, what little supplies exist are at risk from the corruption of officials.  The high percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS is also a problem, with recent years seeing a significant rise in the number of younger people infected.  There are an estimated 230,000 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and the concern is for their safety and futures in this uncertain environment.

While Burundi is a republic, the years of civil unrest in this country that have characterised recent decades have kept more than half of the population illiterate and without access to any form of education.  Burundi itself is landlocked and its industrial development has been hampered by constant civil strife.  The result is few work opportunities the economy is not fully developed to allow industry that is compatible with the surroundings to flourish.

As a result, this impoverished country is mostly dependant on foreign aid.  SOS has worked hard to imbed itself with local organisations to ensure that funding reaches the people who need it the most.  SOS also believes that education is the best preventative tool and have aided in the creation of several “Anti-AIDS Clubs” in Bujumbura, Gitega, Muyinga and Rutana which provide educational materials, free testing and anti-retrovirals in order to teach communities about the disease.

A recent partnership with the Government, World Food Programme (WFP) and the National Council for Fight against AIDS (NCFA) is well developed and continues to help the population.  NCFA helps HIV/AIDS Orphans and other vulnerable children with anti-retroviral drugs. The partnership with the Government involves the three relevant ministries – Ministry of Social Action and Woman Promotion, Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of National Education. Co-operation with UNICEF is a continuing priority.

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Sport Relief raises funds by asking for donations as people (both celebrity and non) complete active challenges.  The money raised goes to various aid foundations both within the country and abroad.

Highlights from this year’s events include David Walliams’ swim across the English Channel and Eddie Izzard’s amazing 43 marathons in 51 days.  It continued with various sponsored runs across the country on Saturday and thousands of pounds raised in creative ways by schools and workplaces on Friday the 19th.

It is a wonderful thing to see communities come together and celebrities using their notoriety to encourage others to get active and help others.  In order to make the donations more personal, there were several stories broadcast that typify the demographic that benefit from people’s donations.

The most compelling stories were about children living in developing nations, those that are of most concern to SOS Children’s Villages.

The stories featured children who forage on garbage heaps to survive as well as focusing on a family headed by a young boy named Hasan who works to support his siblings.  The children were those that survive in the harshest conditions and often end up on the streets.

Most aid organizations class street children into two categories; those who make their homes on the street and those who work on the streets but have a home to which they can return to sleep.  Both of these groups are the concern of SOS Children’s Villages who understand how easy it is for these children to loose their family, their health and their childhood.

That’s why their family strengthening programmes presently provide 175,000 orphans with education opportunities and familial support. SOS is planning to extend this to 900,000 children by the end of 2018.  With continued support, SOS can help support children and give them back a childhood free from the burdens of premature responsibility.

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Following the arrest of ten US nationals who attempted to transport the children to the Dominican Republic under dubious circumstances, Haiti’s child welfare authority IBERS (The Institut du Bien Etre Sociale et De Recherches) placed the children in the Santo SOS Children’s Village.

Since January 30th they have been provided with medical and social care, as well as psychological help from professionals and SOS social workers. During their stay, all 33 children participated in the daily life of the SOS Children’s Village and have been integrated into a household

After a lengthy process of family verification handled by IBERS, the children, aged four months to twelve years, will now return to their families.

Celigny Darius, National Director of SOS Children’s Villages in Haiti, explained how SOS seek to always bring families back together, even if though parents might not be able to guarantee the same level as care as the charity’s villages offer:

“It has turned out that all of the 33 children have parents and SOS Children’s Villages is convinced that in most cases, the best place for a child to be cared for and protected is within the family,”

“Poverty and lacking resources must not be allowed to be the cause for separation. We are therefore very supportive of the decision of the Haitian authorities to reunite these children with their biological families.”

After the children are reunited with their families, SOS Children’s Villages will be able to provide additional support to that of IBERS and UNICEF, should it be required.

All 400 unaccompanied and orphaned children that have been cared for in the Santo SOS Children’s Village are in the process of being registered in a national database, which will be used to facilitate the tracing of relatives.

Since the earthquake, SOS Children’s Villages has helped reunite 65 children with their families and their measures will ensure that they will be able to bring many more families in Haiti back together in the future.

SPONSOR AN ORPHAN IN HAITI WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES

In keeping with its mission to save Niger’s vulnerable children and strengthen families devastated by poverty and HIV/AIDS, SOS is launching a program to distribute food that will reach 10,000 children and families between March and September 2010.

Besides distributing badly needed food to affected families, SOS will also offer medical treatment for conditions caused by malnutrition. The goal of SOS’s emergency relief program is to implement a system of food banks that encourages self-sufficiency in times of hardship and prevents the explosion of food prices during shortages.

SOS’s aid will target Tahoua, the interior agricultural region whose inhabitants will suffer most from the drought. That area, roughly 250 miles northeast of the capital, Niamey, is home to some 870,000 people who are at risk of being moderately or severely affected by the famine.

SOS has two Children’s Villages in Niger-one in Niamey and one in Tahoua. A third village, in Dosso, is under construction. Niger’s high rate of HIV/AIDS has produced many children without homes or parental care. In determining which households to support in its emergency relief program, SOS Children’s Villages will include families raising children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and other diseases, those headed by a woman, and those raising children with physical or mental handicaps.

Vulnerable children in Niger find love, food, medicine, and classrooms at SOS‘s two Children’s Villages. So, too, do needy neighbourhood children and families who attend SOS schools and receive its AIDS-prevention counselling services.

The emergency relief efforts that SOS Children’s Villages undertakes in the countries in which it works benefit greatly from the trust and the extensive local contacts that SOS develops on the ground over time.

SPONSOR AN ORPHAN IN AFRICA WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES

As of today, SOS Chile reports that they have been operating  5 day care centres located in; Iglesia Cristo Rey, Iglesia Bautista, Sector Juan Pablo II, Población Agüita de la Perdiz, Communal Centre “Los Grillitos” which continue to help 700 children in need.

The children are receiving emotional support and a make-shift community while they wait for classes to begin in April.

SOS has coordinated with National Board of Kindergartens (JUNJI) and Youth Welfare Authority (SENAME) which were in operation in Conception previous to the quake and have been able to deliver government provided food rations to those in immediate need.

The city of Concepción, along with many small villages in the surrounding area struggle to get fresh water and food supplies, in many cases the products have all been destroyed and access to food stores is limited, the supplies not nearly meeting the high demand.

Victor Beltrán, the director of SOS Children’s Villages Chile has been travelling to other day-cares and meeting with community leaders.  Often, in the more remote villages SOS has been the first organisation to arrive after the earthquake. The leaders are happy to have the support of the Children’s Villages and have even showcased a film at a recent meeting of local authorities, explaining and endorsing the work of SOS.

The national TV channel “Televisión Nacional de Chile” highlighted SOS Children’s Villages as the only organisation working directly with and for children. This report will certainly open up new broadcasting possibilities for the work done by the organisation in the national media.

UPDATE

Since goallover.org reported on this story, SOS has continued to support communities throughout Chile.  They are pleased to report that the Conception location currently serves 770 children daily and 280 families, 80 of which have received specialized psychological support an aftercare.

On April 30th a 6.2 magnitude aftershock woke the community in Conception causing power outages in six locations.  The city was startled back into a state of alarm, but no deaths or substantial damage was reported.  The second phase of the relief plan is underway and SOS is working to include the community in these programmes in order to make them self-sustaining.  SOS continues its efforts and will not withdraw support until these programmes are completely self-sufficient.

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Spanish authorities have arrested 2 Pakistani men and a Romanian woman in connection with the kidnapping.  These are 3 of the supposed 5 people who broke into Sahil’s grandmother’s home in Pakistan and attacked and robbed the family before snatching the young boy and disappearing, leaving the family fearing for his safety.

It is shocking that mere greed would motivate someone to put Sahil and his family through this terrible ordeal.  To divide a mother and child is heartbreaking and it is wonderful to hear Sahil has a loving home to which to he can return. 

In many other cases, this is not so.  This story brings attention to the families throughout the world who are not together and those children that still need someone to care about them and help them grow into adulthood.  

This is exactly what SOS Children’s Villages aims to achieve; a home for every child.  Their first priority is to keep families together-children with their natural parents.  This is supported through their initiatives called “Family Strengthening Programmes” which educate and advise families on how to be self-sustaining and positive members of their communities.  These programmes are everything from teaching new trades so people may earn a better income, to skills that help people to run a home more economically to psychological support for anyone who is in need of this kind of help.

If no parents can be traced through extensive efforts, fostering is then recommended.  Today, SOS Children’s Villages works in 124 countries globally to help place children into loving homes with foster mothers who help them to feel part of a family again. You can help make that happen.

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The organisation works hard to provide schooling from kindergarten up to vocational training at the secondary school level within their village environments.  They believe in education’s ability to break the cycle of poverty and create autonomous communities.

While this principle is proudly espoused by SOS Villages, it is not always consistent with the local social norms of the varied locations SOS Village schools.  However, setting up the villages and providing education to girls and boys and providing those whose education has been disrupted with learning opportunities provides a great example to local populations and serves to challenge the ideals that restrict or even prohibit education.

The latest estimates indicate that around 93 million children worldwide go without any type of formal education. Whether this be due to politics that exclude minorities, a lack of money to pay school fees and buy uniforms or any other number or reasons this number is far too high.

SOS has had wonderful successes with providing education not just to children within the villages, but to locals as well.  For example, their 2009 programme to provide 10 days free tuition to young people in Mombasa, Kenya was met with great enthusiasm and was attended by some 123 people.

While in Malawi the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary school has used its resources to hire special needs teachers for those children who are developmentally impaired in some way.

These are just a few highlights from SOS Children’s Villages’ “Learning for Life” initiative which pledges to invest more into educational facilities than ever before between the years 2009-2016.

SOS Children’s Villages have kindergarden, secondary as well as vocational schools throughout the world, all working towards a world where education is a right, not a privilege.

UPDATE

SOS has just announced that Luxury handbag designer House Louis Vitton has recently singed a five year, global contract with SOS Children’s Villages.  The agreement is aimed at supporting the work of SOS Children’s Villages everywhere, with a specific focus on education and learning.  The company is committed to helping children everywhere gain access to an education and has been vocal about large company’s responsibility to help in the fight to reduce poverty.

Yves Carcelle, President & CEO of Louis Vuitton comments: “Transmitting savoir-faire and heritage is one of our founding cornerstones. Preserving the past and preparing for a brighter future are fundamental values that have inspired us for more than 150 years. Today, we are proud and pleased to be starting out on this new voyage with SOS Children’s Villages.”

Below you may choose to help a child gain access to education by country, or simply though SOS Children’s Villages.

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SPONSOR A CHILD IN AFRICA

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Hundreds of children remain homeless and lacking in basic needs such as schools and community cohesiveness.

One city almost completely annhiallated by the massive wave that struck on the 26th of December was Nagapattinam, India. The vibrant fishing town was all but washed away and with it, the way of life for its inhabitants.

That’s why the recent opening of a relief centre in Nagapattinam was so important. SOS Children’s Villages recognised the continued need for support in this part of the world and has acted accordingly. Today, more than 1,550 children are being directly supported as part of the SOS family strengthening programme.

This SOS village is made up of 12 family houses and a kindergarten for 60 children. This is the second of these villages in India, the other one is located in Pondicherry.

The aim of this centre is to provide a community gathering point around which people may rally as well as delivering educational courses and trying to help people to learn an appropriate trade that will help stimulate local industry and promote autonomy amongst the population. The media centre provides courses in everything from languages, to screen printing to computer skills and boat repair.

These villages will continue to provide an environment of care and protection to children who still live with the aftermath of this natural disaster.

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The situation is Haiti is gradually moving out of the emergency relief phase and towards establishing measures for long-term recovery.

Immediately after the earthquake, ActionAid distributed emergency food rations to 2,700 children. Since then, a rolling programme of food distribution has reached 14,400 of the most vulnerable.

Food kits are now distributed in cycles, with each family receiving enough food to last a family of six for 15 days.

SOS Children’s Villages are now approaching full capacity of 500 children living in their safe haven and SOS family houses.

Basic facilities including toilets, washing, cooking and sleeping accommodation is in place. Each family house which typically until a month ago had a mother and ten children in four bedrooms now has twenty children and several additional adults.

The additional children put into the houses are all the youngest ones. The situation is abnormal but quality of care is being assured – starting from proper clothing and shoes to a place to sleep, nutrition and health.

The focus now for SOS Children’s Villages is looking and planning toward some sort of education and “normal” structured activities for children.

Tents are placed on the village site to organise the care of children during the day with focus on learning and healing through play.

This movement towards rebuilding communities will be centred around the distribution points. Area leaders will be assigned to take responsibility for food distribution in each zone as well as supervise community leaders running food distribution points, which are set to become key areas for providing more advanced, sustainable forms of aid.

At the moment the “distribution points“ mainly function as basic aid spots (such as providing food for the children) but they are being developed to provide other services including day-time safe havens for children.

Another area that both ActionAid and SOS Children’s Villages are focussing their efforts on is helping families to cope with the psychological damage caused by the earthquake.

Dolyin Lymarie is part of a team of five SOS psychologists currently engaged in working with traumatised children in Haiti.

She works with a group of children from age 6 to 10 and has organised what she labels “emotional recuperation activities”.

In their interaction with the professional SOS psychologist the children sing together, play games and are asked to make a drawing of a teddy bear – all as part of an effort to provide them with a space to express themselves and learn about their own body parts, so that they have the language to explain where it might hurt. Also, it is important to give the children a sense of self-value and that they are part of the SOS community.

ActionAid meanwhile have been training volunteers from partner organisation COZPAM on how to provide psychosocial care and support to people.

These volunteers are now working in Mariani to reach 2,000 families alongside other volunteers who have been trained to help people get back to work and mobilize communities to form committees. It is hoped that these committees will play a crucial role in helping to decide how their communities should be rebuilt.

The most immediate concern that both charities have is providing shelter for families to protect them from the imminent rainy season

Daniel Gedeon, ActionAid’s Emergency Response Manager in Haiti, said: “The rains have started in Port-au-Prince and people will find it very difficult to cope without tents or tarpaulin sheets. It is extremely important that the people get plastic sheeting or tarpaulins to waterproof what little shelter they have, otherwise they will find it very hard to cope through the next few months.”

Both charities are working to ensure that the hope that they have provided through their efforts since the earthquake struck is not washed away by the rainy season.

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