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Save the Children Responds to the Deadly Tsunami in the Solomon Islands
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An aerial view of damage after a tsunami and an earthquake hit the Solomon Islands, April 3, 2007. (Copyright: Reuters / Reuters TV, courtesy www.alertnet.org) |
Westport, CT (April 12, 2007) — Save the Children is working to provide relief to families and children left homeless by a deadly tsunami that struck the Solomon Islands last week. Government officials say 24 are confirmed dead, 5,400 displaced and 900 homes are damaged, with many still missing.
The agency — which has extensive health, education and child protection programs in the affected area — has sent a team to the island along with urgently needed supplies. In partnership with Global Medic, Save the Children is supplying water purification tablets, portable water purification systems, personal items including soap and toothpast, as well as much needed medical supplies and five trained paramedics.
The Save the Children team will continue to assess the status of families and work to ensure that children are protected as the region recovers from the tsunami. Moving forward, Save the Children will focus on reconstruction and child protection - providing a safe and protected environment to address trauma and separation.
Save the Children has been working in the Solomon Islands for more than 20 years and reports that its 45 staff members there are safe.
The Solomon Islands are located on the seismically volatile “Pacific Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent. It is the same region that experienced the deadly South Asia tsunami in 2004.
