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Save the Children's Relief Efforts Continue in Mozambique
Westport, Conn. (February 8, 2008) — Save the Children's work to protect and nurture children in flood-soaked Mozambique continues as the region's rivers remain at or near flood stage.
In the Zambezi River basin, Save the Children is focusing on immediate shelter and protection needs, including education. The agency has erected eight temporary school tents in Mopeia, where displaced families are staying in camps, and is distributing education kits for teachers and students in anticipation of classes beginning this week.
To date, Save the Children also has distributed household kits — comprised of blankets, cooking and eating utensils, water purifiers, soap, buckets and plastic sheeting — to more than 3,500 families. The agency has provided additional plastic sheeting to 350 families in Mopeia.
Ongoing and torrential rains over the past several weeks pushed the country's major rivers out of their banks, threatening the lives and livelihoods of thousands of families. Nearly 100,000 people have been displaced by floodwaters, according to recent estimates. Meanwhile fresh precipitation in neighboring Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe is adding to river volume, ensuring that the danger is not over.
"Children in the flood zone are extremely vulnerable," said Caroline Loftus, who heads Save the Children's international response to emergencies. "The lives of thousands of children have been disrupted, their homes destroyed and their family's way of life washed away. It is important to ensure that they have the means to get through the difficult days now as well as have the means to move forward after the water recedes."
Prolonged flooding is predicted, prompting fears that this year's floods will be bigger than those of 2007, which affected more than a quarter of a million people.
Save the Children has long-term programs in three of the four provinces expected to see the worst of the Zambezi flooding. The agency has been working in Mozambique since 1988.
Save the Children's ability to respond quickly to emergencies like this and other future emergencies where significant numbers of children are at risk greatly depends on our available resources. By contributing to the Children's Emergency Fund, you enable us to prepare for and respond immediately to children and families who urgently need our help when disasters strike.
