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Central African Republic: water for a rainy country, care for scratched legs … and an original use for ICRC tarpaulins
29-01-2009 Photo gallery
The Central African Republic has suffered war and insecurity for the last 40 years. The ICRC is one of the few agencies operating throughout the country, including the remote northern villages. The organization works with detainees, promotes international humanitarian law and assists the tens of thousands affected by the situation.
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The ICRC has been working in the CAR since 1997. In 2006, the organization stepped up its operations in the north of the country, to help civilians caught up in the fighting between government forces and armed groups. Many civilians have fled for their lives, seeking safety in the bush or other villages.
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ICRC field officer Flora Sambia addresses the people of Kambakota in Sango, the local language, to organize the distribution of aid. As well as issuing supplies to families that have fled the conflict and relocated in the village, the ICRC provided smaller kits to people who were already living there.
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Some walk over five kilometres each way to gather wood for cooking. The ICRC has given buckets, soap, tarpaulins, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and seed to 7,800 people in the north of the country, where civilians are bearing the brunt of the long-running conflict and of banditry.
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This allows house building to continue during the rainy season that runs from March to October.
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A Central African Red Cross volunteer from the village of Gonezabet performs first aid on a boy who has injured his leg playing in thorny bushes. The ICRC supports these dedicated volunteers by providing supplies and training.
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This deadly yet preventable disease is spread by bites from infected mosquitoes. The ICRC distributes mosquito nets impregnated with insecticide to help protect people against bites. More than one million people die of malaria every year, most of them babies, young children and pregnant women. The majority are Africans.
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This joint ICRC/Central African Red Cross Society project protects a natural water source against pollution. The pipes and concrete block have been installed directly over the water source to filter the water, providing 4,000 litres of water an hour.
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Many people, especially children, have worms and suffer stomach problems as a result of contaminated water. Working together, the two organizations installed or renovated 100 pumps during 2008, providing clean water for drinking, cooking and washing.
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The school in Balamba, a village in the north of the country, started the new term in October with a brand-new shower and latrine block. Previously, children had to go to the toilet in the bush and picked up illnesses from the waterborne parasites that flourish in the stagnant rainwater.
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The ICRC uses Land Cruisers to negotiate the difficult terrain, delivering aid to remote villages that would otherwise be cut off during the rainy season.
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