Westport, Conn. (November 2, 2007) -
Save the Children, a humanitarian agency that responds to disasters and works to
improve the lives of children around the world, is calling on the public to support the agency's efforts to assist children and families affected by the
deadly storm that battered the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the
Dominican Republic and
Haiti. Thousands
of Children Left HomelessThe storm slammed into the island
with winds of up to 80 miles an hour and unrelenting downpours that left thousands homeless. More than 100 people are reported dead, many of them swept
away in muddy floodwaters after two rivers burst their banks and tore through
the village of Villa Altagracia
outside Santo
Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Save the Children
Dominican Republic program staff members are already working with authorities to
assess the situation in the most
affected regions of the Southwest Dominican Republic, including Barahona,
Pedernales and Independencia. Save the Children Dominican Republic Director
Horacio Ornes, who himself was stranded by
the storm, reports that mudslides and
flooding have closed off major roads connecting Santo Domingo and the affected
areas, and that an estimated 60,000 people have been forced out of their homes. Save the Children's response will focus on meeting the immediate needs of the
displaced children and families, including clean water, food and shelter. In Haiti,
Save the Children's staff members are
working with the Civil Protection Department of the Haitian Government and other
agencies to assist families in the Western border region with the Dominican Republic and in the Southeast. Save the
Children is distributing school kits and infant care kits in these areas, many
of which also were impacted by flooding in September. Save the Children works
in more than 120 countries, and serves more than 33 million children and 32
million others who are working to save and improve children's lives, including
parents,
community members, local organisations and government
agencies.
