WESTPORT, Conn. (7 October 2009) — Save the Children continues to respond to a series of natural disasters and extreme weather that started just over a week ago and has jeopardized the lives, health and well-being of more than 3 million children from India to American Samoa.  

The international humanitarian organization has emergency teams providing lifesaving relief to children and their families and has launched child protection programs in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Nepal and American Samoa.

“The crisis in Asia has left children homeless, hurt and in harm’s way,” said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. “We are working with families living in overcrowded and unsanitary shelters or makeshift tents set up outside of their shattered homes, and with children who have seen all that is safe and familiar to them washed away in torrents of water.  In less than two weeks, Save the Children has mobilized staff and resources to provide assistance to tens of thousands of very vulnerable children — and will continue to help them and their families as they try to recover their lives.” 

To date, Save the Children has provided emergency assistance — in the form of food, clean water, household kits, hygiene supplies, shelter materials and child-friendly spaces — to more than 26,000 people across the six disaster zones. The organization is mobilizing staff and resources and scaling up efforts to meet the massive medium- and long-term needs of children and their families in this region.

Details of Save the Children’s humanitarian response to the emergencies are listed below.

Philippines

Save the Children has reached more than 14,800 people, over half of them children, affected by Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma. The storms caused wide-scale flooding, swamping homes and forcing more than 420,000 people into evacuation centers. With more than 4.2 million people affected by the two storms, children are increasingly vulnerable and in need of assistance.

Save the Children is distributing packs of essential non-food and food items, including rice, sardines, noodles, plastic pails, eating utensils, can openers, cooking pots, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, soap, detergent, and toothbrushes and toothpaste. The organization also has established two child-friendly spaces in one evacuation center, benefitting approximately 100 children. Save the Children will establish nine child-friendly spaces by the end of this week.

More than 400 schools were damaged by the storm, while a total of 226 school buildings now serve as evacuation centers and shelters, where as many as 40 families are staying in classrooms.

There is a persistent concern over water, sanitation and hygiene conditions, especially in the more crowded evacuation centers in metro Manila established in the wake of Tropical Storm Ketsana. Poor sanitation, standing water and overcrowding are threatening the health and well-being of children. Save the Children has identified an increasing number of children in evacuation centers who have developed symptoms of upper-respiratory and skin infections, and diarrhea, all of which are major killers of children in the developing world.

Indonesia

In the week since a major earthquake struck West Sumatra, Save the Children has provided critical shelter and other relief supplies to nearly 9,000 people, including 5,400 children, in the hardest-hit areas of Pariaman district.

Save the Children has launched a holistic humanitarian response to assist severely affected families. The agency, in cooperation with local communities, is currently focusing on distributing shelter, household and hygiene kits — which include plastic sheeting, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, a cook stove, pots and pans, cutlery, soap, detergent, toothpaste and toothbrushes, and washcloths. It is moving to provide those same communities with child-friendly spaces and education support so that children can recover and continue their studies.

Save the Children is targeting the worst-affected areas, especially those that have received little or no support. It has delivered more than 12 truckloads of vital supplies to families in Pariaman district and has at least 34 more truckloads arriving over the next week from the organization’s warehouses in the country.    

Vietnam

Save the Children launched an immediate response to the urgent needs of children and families affected by Typhoon Ketsana. The agency has distributed 50 households kits in Tarut (Da Krong district) in Quang Tri, 200 households kits in Quang Nam (one of the worst-affected areas), and 200 household kits in Hao Zuan in Da Nang, reaching approximately 2,000 people.

Over the next two weeks, Save the Children will focus on meeting urgent needs in three of the worst affected provinces – Quang Tri, Hue and Da Nang.  The organisation will  distribute non-food items to 20,000 households, which include about 50,000 children, such as blankets, mosquito nets, jerry cans to collect water, soap, sanitary towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste. In addition, Save the Children will distribute food to 12,500 vulnerable families, prioritising female-headed households and infant feeding education activities.

More than 95,000 people living in remote areas are cut off from aid as flooding and mud slides have made roads impassable. The most isolated communities do not have access to food, and children are going hungry.

American Samoa

An earthquake of magnitude 8.3 struck the Samoa Islands, generating a tsunami that caused widespread damage in low-lying areas, including coastal roads to outlying villages.  Most deaths were from drowning in the initial wave. There are power outages across the island and telephone service is unreliable. Approximately 2,700 residents are displaced, with over 1,500 people taking refuge in nine shelters. Some 300 homes have been destroyed. 

Save the Children — working on the ground with American Samoa’s office of the governor, health and human services, department of education, the office of Congressman Faleomavaega, the National VOAD, American Red Cross and FEMA — is assessing the status of children. Urgent needs include diapers, cribs, clothing for children of all ages, and structured activities in safe spaces.  

Save the Children has created child-friendly spaces in shelters in Amanave, Nual Se’etega, and Leone, serving approximately 300 children, and is working on shipping additional supplies to the island.  

India

Monsoon flooding has impacted five districts of Andhra Pradesh, affecting 1.83 million people. More than 383,000 people have been evacuated and 275,000 displaced. The three worst-affected districts are Kurnool, Mahbubnagar and Krishna, with access to Kurnool and Mahbubnagar completely cut off. Schools in 34 mandals (administrative divisions) of Kurnool District have closed until at least October 11, and a further 16 schools in Mahbubnagar District have closed until at least October 8.

The floodwaters have begun to retreat, and Save the Children has sent an assessment team to the affected area. The organisation is planning to provide water purifiers, hygiene kits, clothes, household items, and food (including additional nutrition for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers). Child protection and education needs will also be assessed. 

Nepal

Save the Children is assessing the needs of children and families in response to landslides triggered by four days of torrential rain in parts of western Nepal. The casualties as of today are 37 deaths including 7 children. Nearly 20,000 households in 60 villages have been affected.

Save the Children has mobilised staff and partner NGOs, including the Nepal Red Cross, to distribute relief supplies of food and non-food items.

More rain is predicted for the area.

Media contacts

Indonesia Contacts 
Kate Conradt, kconradt@savechildren.org, +1 202 378 7952
Jon Bugge, j.bugge@savechildren.org.uk, + 44.782 510 6625 
Sonia Khush, skhush@savechildren.org, + 62.812 101 0463

Philippines Contacts
Gia-Marie Chu, gchu@savechildren.org, + 639 178 590759
Latha Caleb, lcaleb@savechildren.org, + 639 175 332100

Vietnam Contact
Kathryn Rawe, k.rawe@savethechildren.org.uk, +44 7733 268 327

American Samoa Contact

Erica Viltz, eviltz@savechildren.org, +1 202  262-7171

India Contact
Ray Kancharla, r.kancharla@savethechildren.in, +91 9818 792 326

U.S. Contacts
Ana Rahona, arahona@savechildren.org, (202) 236-5341
Wendy Christian, wchristian@savechildren.org, (203) 241-9722