Fieldnotes: Blogging on UNICEF's child survival work in the field

© UNICEF/ HQ07-0130/Pirozzi Burned and looted homes stand empty in an abandoned village.

Today we went to what had been the village of Djorlo, population 2,000.

At about 5:00 am last December, the Janjaweed attacked Djorlo from three directions.

The villagers tried to defend their homes with bows and arrows, but were no match for the Janjaweed with their Kalashnikovs.

The entire village was burnt and 48 people were killed.

It's difficult to describe the impact of walking through such mindless destruction. Home after home utterly devastated. In the ashes of Djorlo, we found remnants of everyday life; shattered pots, cooking ware, a blackened bed, charred boxes. Even the clay storage pots had been deliberately smashed to destroy precious food supplies.

After the attack, some of the villagers returned to bury their dead. We found three mass graves.

The survivors of Djorlo are now living in one of the many makeshift camps scattered across eastern Chad.

Aid workers are trying to meet the needs of this increasingly abandoned population. But due to the extreme volatile situation, humanitarian organizations have been forced to scale back in their numbers, severely limiting their capacity to help.

Until some semblance of security can come to this region, even the most basic needs of the people will not be met.

© UNICEF/HQ07-0126/Pirozzi A child with malaria who may also be malnourished has the circumference of his arm measured at a mobile health clinic.

Today we visited Goz Amer, refugee camp where just a few days ago, some children found a grenade, brought into their schoolroom where it exploded, severely wounding 18 children. This incident illustrates the fact that eastern Chad has become so militarized that unexploded ordinances are strewn around the camps, posing yet another threat to this already vulnerable population.

In the camp, I met Ameni Khamis Abakar, a 15 year-old girl, one of victims of the grenade explosion. She was laying on the ground, her blood stained bandages were covered in flies.

Four years ago Ameni’s village was attacked by Janjaweed. ‘They killed all the men. We had to run without taking anything. Now we have nothing’.

When I asked Ameni want she wanted most, she said, ‘I want to have clothes and be like every child in the world. I want to go back to Darfur. We have to be here. But it is not my home.’

In Goz Beida hospital where other victims of the explosion were being cared for, there I met Hamis Hussain, a sweet faced 12 year-old boy, who was clearly in pain.

When Hamis’ Darfurian village was burned, his parents were killed. He and his older brother managed to reach Goz Amer refugee camp.

I sat with Hamis for a while and he began to murmur softly. The translator said Hamis was asking me, how I was feeling.

A child already traumatized by the Darfur conflict and now wrapped in bandages and in severe pain, found it in his heart to ask me how I was.

Over and over again, the courage and kindness of the people here is evident.

© UNICEF/Pirozzi In these conditions, children are also at risk for several diseases that are entirely preventable with low-cost interventions like the UNICEF-supplied oral polio vaccine that we gave this baby today.

We are now in Goz Beida, eastern Chad, near the Darfur border. Over the last four years since the violence began in Darfur 235,000 people have fled their burning villages seeking safety here.

They were welcomed by their Chadian neighbors and for a time they were safe. But Darfur’s Janjaweed are here. Now Chadian villages are burning.

Countless innocent Chadians have been murdered and mutilated. 115,000 are homeless, struggling to survive in make shift sites and camps.

Courageous aid workers in difficult and dangerous conditions are doing their utmost to sustain this traumatized and fragile population, not only the Darfurians but now the Chadians.

Over the last two days we met with many displaced families and refugees. The need for food and water was desperate, but their first request was for protection.

It is past time for international peacekeeping force to come to eastern Chad.

© UNICEF/HQ07-0128/Pirozzi This primary school is run by a Catholic mission in the area and provides schooling for some 380 children. The school's name, Nakotanguia, means "With Great Hope" in the local language.

It’s been a long day and I have seen a lot. It is a struggle to form any coherent picture of the conflict that has devastated the Central African Republic. Here are the players: the presidential guards, the government army, four rebel groups, bandits and insurgents from Chad and Sudan.

The victims are the innocent civilian population of CAR. Out of a total population of four million, one million are lively in desperate needs of humanitarian assistance. At least 150,000 are struggling to survive in the bush.

Today, on the road to Paoua, a town which was recently the scene of fighting between government forces and rebels, there was scarily not a single village that was not destroyed or abandoned. We paused at one of these burned villages, and stood quietly while hundreds emerged from the bush. They were caked in dust, barely clothed in tattered rags. While we were speaking with them, sounds of an oncoming vehicle sent them fleeing back into the bush.

To see that many people running in terror is something I will never forget.

© UNICEF/HQ07-0133/Pirozzi I listen as women and children recount the atrocities they have witnessed. Some 1,000 people live here in the bush after their homes in the nearby village were burned and looted by armed forces.

Today we drove for most of the day through the bush and on the roughest of dirt roads.

We passed through countless burnt villages. Survivors of these attacks have fled into the bush, where they have been living for more than a year.

When we stopped passing by the burnt villages people emerged from behind trees. They have nothing. They survive by eating leaves. They are without clothes, blankets or a clean water source. At least 150,000 people are living under these deplorable conditions.

A woman told me, “Our children are getting sick and dying there is nothing we can do. We can not return to our villages. We would be massacred.”

People told us their attackers were armed men in uniform. It is not clear whether they are government forces or rebel groups.

The humanitarian situation here can not be more dire. We need to help these people. How many innocent people must die before a international peace keeping force is deployed along Central African Republic‘s borders with Chad an Sudan?

© UNICEF/Pirozzi We took Niece and her mother to the only hospital in the region and we are hoping she will survive.

Bossongoa, Northwest Central African Republic

Hello, I'm UNICEF Ambassador Mia Farrow. I'm posting to UNICEF's Fieldnotes blog to share details from my trip. Yesterday we traveled to Bossongoa in northwest, Central African Republic.

In 2003 Bossongoa was attacked by rebels that support the current government. Ever since, the effects have been very devastating. At present people are struggling to survive.

Many of the men were killed leaving countless widows to fend for their themselves and their children.

I came upon a three-year old baby girl named Niece who was in the final stages of severe malnutrition. Her hair has fallen has out and her legs and belly were swollen.

We took Niece and her mother to the only hospital in the region and we are hoping she will survive.

Niece is the face of conflict and poverty. This is what the children of Central African Republic are facing.

© UNICEF/HQ07-0129/Pirozzi UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow shows photographs she has taken to a group of children in a northern village of the Central African Republic.

UNICEF Ambassador Mia Farrow arrived in the Central African Republic this weekend to begin her field visit.

"We all bear a responsibility to try and shed light on this immense human suffering," UNICEF Ambassador Mia Farrow told the AP on Saturday, the start of her week-long tour of Central African Republic.

The U.N. reports that violence has affected 1 million people in Central African Republic, nearly one-quarter of the population, and says tens of thousands of women have been raped by different factions.

Though this trip, Ms. Farrow is bringing attention to this forgotten crisis. Here's links to learn more: UNICEF: Humanitarian Action Report on Central African Republic AP: U.S. actress Mia Farrow tours Central African Republic to highlight 'forgotten' crisis

We'll keep you updated as Mia Farrow's trip continues.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow heads out for her week long trip to Africa tonight. She's looking forward to attending the kick-off of the Child Health Days program in Central African Republic and will also travel to UNICEF field sites in Chad.

While communication between remote locations in the field and our office here in New York City can be difficult, I'm hoping Ms. Farrow will be able to share news and pictures from her trip to Africa as it progresses. We'll keep you posted here. If you have comments and good wishes to share with Ms. Farrow as her journey begins, please post them here as comments and we'll pass them along to her.

Many of the regions Ms. Farrow and her team will be visiting are on the verge of humanitarian disaster. Her visit will bring renewed attention to these locations.

Here's more information about Ms. Farrow's work for UNICEF. To learn more about UNICEF's work in Africa, visit UNICEFUSA.org.

Mia Farrow is a true advocate for children and campaigns for their rights around the world. She has traveled extensively to Africa on behalf of UNICEF. In 2004 and 2006, Ms. Farrow traveled to Darfur to witness first hand the devastating impact of the civil war on women and children. Ms. Farrow began her film career with ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and since then has made more than 40 films. Her latest film is ‘Be Kind Rewind’ which will be in theaters later this year.