ChildFund International Emergency Updates

If you would like to help with the immediate needs of children impacted by the flash flooding in the Philippines, please donate to our ChildAlert Emergency Fund. Enter your donation amount in the box at the bottom of the page. Thank you for helping children, who are among the most vulnerable in disaster situations.

Two Storms Impact Mozambique

A Zavala schoolhouse before Tropical Depression Dando.

The same Zavala school, destroyed by the storm.

Updated 1/31/2012

In the latter part of January, Cyclone Funso and Tropical Depression Dando brought destructive winds and flooding rain to Mozambique’s coastal regions, claiming the lives of more than 25 people, according to initial government reports.

Mozambique, with 70 percent of its people living in extreme poverty, is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. Tropical storm Funso made landfall in northern Mozambique, unleashing heavy rains on Zambezia and Cabo Delgado. At least 16 people were killed, and more than 1,500 hectares [3,700 acres] of various crops were lost.

Just 10 days earlier, Tropical Depression Dando damaged and destroyed homes, washed out roads and cut communities off from help. Particularly hard hit was the Zavala district, one of Mozambique’s poorest areas, where ChildFund works. Our educational initiatives were just beginning to see gains there. Now, most of Zavala’s schools have been partially destroyed, their roofs and even walls ripped away, and books and other materials ruined. The roof of the health post is gone, and crops are decimated, including fruit trees just about to mature. Phone and electrical lines are down.

ChildFund, the only international development organization working in Zavala, is coordinating with its local partner and the government to assess the situation as it stands, to prepare for what is ahead and to provide logistical support. Immediate needs include rehabilitation of schools and homes to ensure secure environments for children, provisions to make up for lost crops and livelihoods and assured access to health services in anticipation of waterborne diseases that are likely to increase due to the rains.

Flash Flooding Sweeps the Southern Philippines

Updated 1/25/2012

Five weeks have passed since floods damaged or destroyed nearly 52,000 houses around the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Now efforts are beginning to shift away from immediate relief and toward the temporary or permanent relocation of the 36,000 people who remain in the evacuation centers, some of which are set up in schools.

Flood News

“While We Live, We Persevere” Read More

Finding the Spirit of Christmas in a Filipino Shelter Read More

Two relocation sites are under construction so far. Hygiene issues and access to clean water and sanitation have taken on high priority due to an outbreak of a serious waterborne illness in the evacuation centers.

To continue staffing in child-centered spaces, and anticipating the child-centered spaces planned for the new relocation sites, ChildFund has trained an additional 18 parent and 14 youth volunteers. Sessions began with participants processing their own survival experiences and continued with training in stress debriefing, gender-based violence concerns, games and use of other tools for child-centered spaces.

Updated 1/6/2012

Mark Anthony Dasco, program director for ChildFund Philippines, outlines steps ChildFund is taking to protect children following the storm.

ChildFund is providing emergency relief to 2,000 children and family members in Cagayan de Oro, one of the worst-hit areas. Families are receiving bottled water, food items and hygiene kits.

During the night of Dec. 16, in what President Benigno Aquino has declared a national calamity, a tropical storm struck the Philippines on the island of Mindanao, coinciding with the high tide. This caused widespread flash flooding that affected some communities where ChildFund operates. Currently there are no reports of casualties or missing families from our assisted communities, although some of their homes were damaged or destroyed. Many families lost all of their possessions.

Tragically, the storm has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people; untold numbers are still missing; and more than 53,000 residents have fled their homes to wait in evacuation centers. The government of the Philippines is providing support through its military, and ChildFund has activated its emergency response plan, starting with a full assessment of the situation.

ChildFund, which has worked in the Philippines since 1972, is providing emergency relief to 2,000 children and family members in Cagayan de Oro, one of the worst-hit areas. The relief packs ChildFund distributes contain food supplies (rice, dried fish, bottled water, canned sardines and noodles), as well as essential non-food items including cookware, laundry detergent, hygiene kits and intimates. Beyond food and hygiene items, however, ChildFund has focused on the well-being of children, setting up eight child-centered spaces in the shelters to provide psychosocial interventions.

Many people, including children, are in shock and confused about the situation. ChildFund recognizes that children in emergency situations need a safe space in which to play and reestablish a sense of normalcy. “Child-centered spaces provide psychosocial support for children who have been affected by emergencies,” says Mark Anthony Dasco, program director in the Philippines. “They also provide a safe physical space for children to gather in an unstable environment.”

John, a 13-year-old staying at the West City Central evacuation center, says, “It was so frightening. First, the water was at knee level. It then rose very quickly to my waist and then neck level. I almost drowned. Good that my father was able to get hold of me.”

John says about ChildFund’s child-centered space, “I play with other children and I can forget about what has happened.”

After conducting activities at child-centered spaces, Christine, 15, a youth facilitator, says she sees much improvement in the children at the evacuation centers. “I see them laughing and smiling now,” she says. “Their smiles and faces look just like they might have before the typhoon.”

Updated 10/26/2011

Food Situation Remains Grave in Horn of Africa

Jake Lyell Photography

In eastern Africa, the worst drought since the 1950s has now enveloped more than 13 million people. Many live in three countries where ChildFund works: Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Crops have failed, food prices have soared and long-term food shortages are endangering the lives of children, who are suffering acute malnutrition.

Working with local and governmental partners in all three countries, ChildFund is responding by providing supplemental food and water as well as health care and hygiene education to help reduce risk of disease. Communities in Kenya and Ethiopia are stabilizing but remain at high risk of food shortages through October 2012. Uganda is gearing up disaster risk reduction efforts to prepare for food shortages, as many gardens, crops and livestock have been lost due to dry weather followed by flooding.

Given the widespread nature of this crisis, the greatest challenge of all is funding response efforts. Make a difference now and help ChildFund help the children of the Horn of Africa.

Updated 10/18/2011

A Bangkok shopkeeper waits for business behind a sandbag barrier against the flooding.

Flooding continues to impact areas of Thailand, including this Bangkok street.

Widespread Flooding in Thailand Claims Lives, Displaces Hundreds of Thousands

Continuous rains throughout the northern and central parts of the country have resulted in widespread flooding throughout Thailand. Sixty out of 78 provinces are now affected by the floods, with 30 being badly affected. 

More than 250 people have lost their lives in the flooding. Hundreds of thousands have either been displaced or marooned. Even large cities such as Ayutthaya have been completely inundated, with residents evacuated to other provinces.

Flooding has also affected Bangkok, with 15 areas of the city particularly hard hit.

CCF Thailand is assessing the impact of the flooding in its operational areas. According to the latest reports, two sponsored children have died and two mothers also lost their lives in the flooding and mudslides. Families have also lost their livelihoods. As of early October, some 1,200 industrial factories in 33 provinces were submerged and affecting 41,000 workers according to Thailand’s Department of Labour Protection and Welfare.

Food, water and other essential items are scarce in the flooded areas. CCF Thailand is distributing relief supplies (rice, blankets, mosquito nets, mattress, t-shirts, canned food) and continuing to assess the needs of children and families.

Updated 12/21/2011

ChildFund Partners with Physicians for Peace in Haiti

	ChildFund's grant to Physicians for Peace will help fund additional prosthetics for children who suffered injuries. (Photo: Roberto Westbrook for Physicians for Peace)

Last year, one year after a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, ChildFund awarded a $500,000 grant to Physicians for Peace. The grant supports the organization’s work in Haiti, funding custom-fitted prosthetics, medical equipment, a summer camp for children with disabilities or who have parents with disabilities, and many additional efforts.

The grant funds help build long-term health care capacity and human resources in Haiti while meeting the immediate needs of those with disabilities, says Brig. Gen. Ron Sconyers (USAF, Ret.), president and CEO of Physicians for Peace. “Through programs such as a summer camp, the grant money will help Haitians in a comprehensive manner consistent with our core philosophy, to teach, empower and heal through sustainable initiatives.”

“ChildFund’s focus is on keeping children on the pathway of development,” says Anne Lynam Goddard, president and CEO of ChildFund. “Natural disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti create terrible situations that put already vulnerable children in grave danger. Working with Physicians for Peace means that children and others with disabilities will receive the support they need, and it reinforces ChildFund’s commitment to creating positive outcomes and lasting change for vulnerable children.”

Now, two years after the quake, ChildFund and Physicians for Peace have awarded $21,000 from last year’s grant to the Red Thread Promise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the needs of orphans with disabilities. The funds will support Camp Jake Richard, a camp for orphans from St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children in Port-au-Prince. By removing physical and emotional barriers, the camp will allow children to engage in creative arts and physical and social activities under the supervision of a team of volunteer counselors, artists, musicians, mentors and health care professionals. More than 30 children are expected to participate in the camp, which is scheduled to run Jan. 3-8, 2012.