UNICEF Ambassador Mia Farrow just returned from a week-long trip to the Central African Republic. She brought back some pictures that we wanted to share with you below. She also brought back some sobering news, describing the people of the Central African Republic as, "without question, the most abandoned people on the earth."
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| © UNICEF/ HQ08-0580/Pierre Holtz |
| Mia Farrow takes notes during a visit to a "bush school" in the northwestern province of Ouham-Pendé. Working with the Italian NGO COOPI, UNICEF reopened 104 schools in 2007, serving some 32,000 primary school students. More than half of the schools are located in the bush where families have taken refuge, afraid to return to their villages following attacks by armed groups. |
The Central African Republic (CAR) has been ravaged by civil war for a decade now, in addition to being affected by the conflict in neighboring Sudan. What's even worse, the people of CAR are terrorized by gangs of bandits who loot property and kidnap children. As a result, many families with children hide in the bush where they are threatened by disease and rape, have little to eat or drink, and have no school for their children to attend. More than 300,000 people are now refugees in their own country, and almost a million people have been affected by the ongoing violence.
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| © UNICEF/ HQ08-0590/Pierre Holtz |
| Girls sit together in class at a UNICEF-supported school in a camp for refugees from neighboring Sudan. The girls arrived with their families a year ago, following a bombing raid in their hometown. The number of boys attending classes is twice the number of girls. |
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| © UNICEF/ HQ08-0589/Pierre Holtz |
| A woman with a baby strapped to her back collects water inside a well. An estimated 75 percent of the country’s population does not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. Women in the area are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. |
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| © UNICEF/ HQ08-0588/Pierre Holtz |
| A severely malnourished baby lies in his mother’s lap at the nutritional therapeutic unit of Regional University Hospital in Bossangoa. UNICEF supports the unit with therapeutic milk, medicine and medical equipment. |
UNICEF is working on the ground in CAR, making sure that its abandoned people get the help they need. Among other things, UNICEF delivers health packages to women and children, feeds malnourished children, and helps build water pumps. UNICEF also operates many "bush schools," which are located in the bush where families have fled, so that children can go back to school.
If you'd like to support UNICEF's work to help children around the world, you can go to our donation page. You can also earmark your donation to specifically help build schools in Africa by giving to UNICEF's Schools for Africa program.
Comments (1)
Wonderful photos Mia and Pierre. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by Jacob | July 15, 2008 11:55 PM
Posted on July 15, 2008 23:55