Hundreds of thousands of children and families are suffering in the wake of two major disasters in the Asia-Pacific — Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in the Philippines and a major earthquake in Indonesia's Sumatra region. The Philippines is bracing for another major typhoon expected to hit the islands this weekend.
ChildFund International has teams on the ground in Indonesia and the Philippines to assess the needs of children and families while providing basic necessities such as food, water, medicines and shelter.
"As disasters strike, ChildFund International is able to respond quickly to the critical needs of local families, relying on our close working relationships with affected communities," said Anne Lynam Goddard, president and CEO of ChildFund International.
ChildFund Indonesia assessment teams, working with local partners and government officials in the Padang area of Sumatra, is aiming to set up 10 Child Centered Spaces with emphasis on promoting emotional and psychosocial well-being to affected children in the face of this major disaster.
ChildFund Philippines staff, working closely with local partners and government officials in Metro Manila, is providing emergency relief assistance to families in affected program areas including basic necessities such as food, water, medicines, shelter, cookware and tools to rebuild their houses after leaving local evacuation centers.
In Southern Luzon, major damage in infrastructure caused power failure, and electricity and communication networks remain down in most of the affected areas. More than 159,000 people were affected and approximately 500 families are still in evacuation centers.
"As one of the leading child-development organizations that has worked in Indonesia and the Philippines for more than 50 years, we will be stepping up our response efforts through the generosity of our supporters," Goddard said.
Natural disasters create terrible situations that put already vulnerable children in grave danger. In emergency situations like these, ChildFund International reaches out to its supporters to provide urgently needed assistance for our ChildAlert Emergency Fund in both countries. http://www.childfund.org/emergency_updates/
ChildFund International, formerly named Christian Children's Fund, is a global child development and protection agency, helping the world's deprived, excluded and vulnerable children survive and thrive in order to reach their full potential. Serving children since 1938, ChildFund International works in 31 countries and helps more than 15.2 million children and family members worldwide, regardless of race, creed or origin. ChildFund International is a member of the ChildFund Alliance. It has earned 4 stars from Charity Navigator.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
A man prays in front of a collapsed building in the earthquake hit area of Padang, West Sumatra province October 2, 2009. Aid for thousands of survivors of an earthquake in ...
