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Save the Children Works to Assist Homeless Survivors of Italian Earthquake
WESTPORT, Conn. (April 9, 2009) — Save the Children’s emergency experts are working in central Italy, where a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck early Monday morning and displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
Save the Children is coordinating with local authorities in L'Aquila, the mountain city near the epicenter of the quake. The agency has initiated child-friendly spaces and activities for children in the Bazzano camp for displaced people, located to the east of L'Aquila. The program allows children to play and share their experiences with other children in a supervised area where they can feel safe.
According to the Ministry of Education, the L’Aquila district has 412 schools, many of which are closed. More than 50,000 children live in the district, 5,000 of whom are between the ages of 0–3. Some 18,000 people are sleeping in temporary tent camps, according to media reports.
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Many schools are closed and homeless families are struggling to find basics like diapers, 04/07/2009. Credit: Contrasto/Riccardo Venturi |
Save the Children is working in collaboration with local organizations and heath authorities currently working in this camp. Agency staff are speaking to children and families as they assess their most urgent needs — among them ensuring that children are protected and have places to play in shelters and that they can return to school as soon as possible.
"With about 70,000 people forced from their homes and with large aftershocks continuing, children are very vulnerable. They are sleeping in the open, in cars or in shelters — away from the familiar comforts of home. They are saying that they are afraid," said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. "It is critical that their unique emotional and physical needs are addressed and that they have help in finding some normalcy in this very chaotic situation.
"We know from experience that life in a shelter or camp can be very difficult for children, especially for infants and toddlers," said MacCormack. "Parents who have to run for their lives are rarely able to bring the food and hygiene items that their young children need. Shelters, meanwhile, address very basic needs but often lack adequate facilities for bathing children or safe places for them to play."
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Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. For more than 75 years, Save the Children has been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis, mobilizing rapid lifesaving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters.
