mail from SOS child villages
"News of violence is never easy to convey, but I am relieved to report that the children, SOS Mothers, and staff are safe after nearby bombing and gunfire forced the evacuation of our SOS Village and Clinic in Mogadishu, Somalia, Tuesday. As you’ve seen in the media, drought and famine are the root cause, wreaking havoc on already unstable communities in East Africa. Please know that your support is helping children and families in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia and that SOS Children’s Villages will continue to aid those in need.
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“Mogadishu is one of the main areas where we wanted to concentrate aid for starving children,” said Ahmed Ibrahim, National Director of SOS Children’s Villages Somalia. The recent fighting there complicates SOS relief efforts in the city but staff on the ground continues to care for frightened children and SOS Clinic patients.
Throughout the Horn of Africa, teams of SOS Children’s Villages staff are continuing to provide relief to distressed children and families.
In Ethiopia, SOS has visited a town where thousands of Somali refugee families continue to arrive. Drought-induced dust storms there are sickening people who were already suffering from dehydration and hunger. In response, SOS Ethiopia is organizing a distribution of food supplies, water treatment chemicals, horse carts and medical staff to help families in need.
In Kenya, SOS Schools are working overtime to provide shelter, water and hot meals to local children. SOS will provide food vouchers and water to families in the area and has planned further outreach to displaced persons camps near three SOS Villages.
In Somalia, SOS is closely monitoring the situation in Mogadishu with safety of children, Mothers and staff our first priority. The hospital is still operating with reduced staff providing care to severely ill patients who could not have been relocated. Outside Mogadishu, the medical facility in Baidoa continues to provide care to nearly 250 new patients every day, 100 of them children."