SUDAN / DARFUR – APPEAL
NEWSBRIEF – UPDATE    21 Aug 2004
from
Iain Young, Disaster Response Coordinator, RIBI International Committee 2004/05  iain.young@blueyonder.co.uk

 To All District International Chairpersons

 APPEAL

I am very please to report that as of yesterday, Friday 20 August, Clive Hawkins has reported that he has processed some £24,271.00 of donations, from 84 clubs throughout RIBI.   We are very grateful to everyone who has supported this ongoing appeal, and for the innovative methods being used to raise finance, for these donations.   Taking into consideration this total, and some £50,000 + donated to Shelter Box, donations which have been sent to the Aquabox, Emergency Box, and other donations sent direct to the DEC, and the British Red Cross Appeals, we estimate that in excess of £100,000 has been raised so far.   We do appreciate that club finances will be stretched at this point in time, as you will have seen during the past week, a further appeal, this time for aid to Bangladesh, led by the Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets.   These two appeals put a great deal of pressure on club’s finances, and we now have in addition, flooding in this country, as has been witnessed in places such as Boscastle, and other parts of this country.   This all puts a strain on club funds, but it never fails to amaze me how we all rise to a challenge, and I know that challenge will be taken up in RIBI.   Please put your support behind the Appeal of your choice, which I am sure also includes your local area, and give generously.   Every little counts.   Thank you all once again for  your support.

 SUDAN

As I reported in the last Newsbrief –Update, two aircraft were to be taking Shelter and Aquaboxes out to Darfur.   However, and regrettably I have to report that these have been held due to the sensitive security situation in the region, and the awaiting of clearances from the Sudanese Government.   The situation is difficult, and I am sure that you already know that the Sudanese government have been told to have their own troops quell the militia who have been wreaking havoc, killing and burning villages, resulting in refugees making for the camps in the border areas.   However, the Sudanese government appear to be doing very little to improve the situation.   It appears that ALL of the Aid Agencies are experiencing similar difficulties, along with the UN and Red Cross, although the Red Cross appear to have established a fragile base. (see extract from this month’s Red Cross Newsletter following this page).   Feed the Children have indicated that this is unlikely to improve over the next week or two, and they are looking at alternative ways of giving assistance.  They have already indicated their sincere thanks for putting boxes at their disposal, but it may be that in the interim boxes may have to be diverted to Bangladesh.  

In addition we have heard this week, that there is an outbreak of Hepatitis E within the camps in the Darfur region, with well over 1000 cases reported, which now constitutes an epidemic.   There is no vaccine, and no known cure for Hepatitis E, which is contracted from the drinking and use of dirty water.   Dirty water we all know and realise causes disease, and there are many water borne diseases which can be contracted, but Hepatitis E is a killer.   Those most at risk are pregnant women, and with the rains falling heavily what should have been a time of great joy for the rains watering the land, those refugees are living in appalling conditions, in what amounts to a sea mud, with polluted water supplies.   The need for Aquabox 30’s and Shelter Boxes particularly is so necessary in such a situation, where Rotary has the means of providing Shelter and Clean Water.   Those involved are working hard at getting ‘Rotary’ aid into the Sudan as soon as is humanly possible, and your help in ensuring that stocks of Boxes of all kinds is kept at acceptable levels, is so much appreciated, especially when Bangladesh also calls.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Iain

Extract from the British Red Cross Newsletter – August

SUDAN - As you read this, Sudan remains the worst humanitarian crisis we currently face. I know many of you have been moved by the plight of the Sudanese and have contributed to our appeal. So far, we have raised over £1 million and your donations have made such a difference. We have delivered food aid to more than 40,000 people in western Sudan, are repairing four major hospitals and have begun tracing hundreds of missing loved ones.

I want to tell you the situation is improving, but I can't - it's getting worse. Our delegate Peter Pearce explains how thousands more people will flee Sudan into neighbouring Chad over the next few months. They will arrive with nothing. Knowing this, we have increased our appeal so that we can provide them with the basics that will ensure their survival: food, water, shelter and medicine.

The crisis in Sudan isn't going away, so neither are we. But only your continuing support will make it possible for us to carry on helping the Sudanese.

CHAD - In an attempt to escape the conflict in Darfur, Western Sudan, thousands of Sudanese people are pouring into neighbouring Chad. To avoid huge pressures being placed on Chad, which is already under strain from an inadequate infrastructure and internal conflict, and to help meet the needs of the refugees, the Red Cross is setting up a relief camp for 20,000 people.

The need for such a camp increases daily as more and more people flee their homes in Darfur – at least another 200,000 people are expected to cross the border in the next six months.

British Red Cross delegate Peter Pearce has just returned from Chad, where he has spent three weeks with a Red Cross assessment team. He says: “We are setting up a relief camp which will provide people with sanitation and basic health education as well as tents and other relief items.”

The Red Cross, led by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, will use both local personnel and expert delegates from overseas to run the camp. Peter says: “We are in a unique position to help because the Chad Red Cross has been helping the United Nations run relief  camps in the south of the country for years.” 

Heavy rains and poor roads make it imperative that work begins as soon as possible. He says: “If the refugees are going to be here for six months to a year, they are going to need a lot of help. Now is the time to get the support in place.”

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