The
Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
PHILIPPINES: As well as killing at least 200 people and injuring a thousand, the
quake that struck Bohol three months ago damaged some 76,200 houses. Although some people have started to repair or rebuild
using salvaged materials, almost 4,000 families are still sleeping under canvas and 3,000 people remain housed in temporary evacuation centres established by the government. Since the earthquake, the Philippine Red Cross, with the support of the IFRC, has provided at least 10,000 families with essential household items including blankets, water containers, personal hygiene items, mosquito nets and tarpaulins.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The
recent violence in CAR, which continues to flare up across the country, has left hundreds of people dead and injured, and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes, both within CAR and into neighbouring countries. In the capital of Bangui, an estimated 40,000 people, including a large number of children, have found refuge at the airport, living in extremely desperate conditions, jam-packed into very narrow sites. They need everything: food, shelters and blankets. The wounded, sick, and pregnant women do not have access to health care. The situation is further compounded by the limited access the internally displaced have to water and latrines. The Central African Red Cross Society, with the support of the IFRC, has responded by constructing 294 latrines on 14 sites, while at the same time, educating people about how to protect themselves from disease through proper hand washing, use of latrines and food conservation.
GLOSSARY:
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
CAR = Central African Republic