NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-08-02NRCS donates food to Eenhana
Hileni Nembwaya
THE Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS) has donated drought relief food to the less privileged and those severely affected by drought at Eenhana and the surrounding villages.
The donation comes two weeks after an assessment done by the society’s regional officers on the severity of the drought and on how much money would be needed to roll-out drought relief.
The society’s regional officer for water and sanitation project, Maria Shimanda, said they are currently supporting 20 households, most of whom are house burn victims, orphans and vulnerable children.
“After the assessment results, we will be able to appeal to donors to help the community because right now we do not have enough resources but we are trying our best,” said Shimanda.
Micaela de Sousa, the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (Unicef) country representative, visited the centre on Wednesday to see some of the challenges the victims face and how her organisation can assist.
“We, at Unicef, aim to strengthen individual and community resilience to cope and with-stand shock. We want to improve the lives of the most affected communities,” de Sousa said.
Her visit coincided with a food donation the NRCS gave to three families from Epembe, Ondombe and Omundaungilo villages.
Unicef has forged a partnership focusing on health and hygiene capacity building with the NRCS to build on the successes achieved by the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) and the Catholic Aids Action (CAA).
The partnership will also strengthen NRCS’ capacity to identify households whose children are at risk of malnutrition; offer care-givers targeted education; as well as advise on infant feeding and care practices.
The emergency response component, formed and developed by the Directorate of Disaster Risk Management in the Office of the Prime Minister, covers all seven of the eight regions where NRCS is actively involved.
Currently underway is the construction of pit-latrines as part of the water and sanitation project.
The donation comes two weeks after an assessment done by the society’s regional officers on the severity of the drought and on how much money would be needed to roll-out drought relief.
The society’s regional officer for water and sanitation project, Maria Shimanda, said they are currently supporting 20 households, most of whom are house burn victims, orphans and vulnerable children.
“After the assessment results, we will be able to appeal to donors to help the community because right now we do not have enough resources but we are trying our best,” said Shimanda.
Micaela de Sousa, the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (Unicef) country representative, visited the centre on Wednesday to see some of the challenges the victims face and how her organisation can assist.
“We, at Unicef, aim to strengthen individual and community resilience to cope and with-stand shock. We want to improve the lives of the most affected communities,” de Sousa said.
Her visit coincided with a food donation the NRCS gave to three families from Epembe, Ondombe and Omundaungilo villages.
Unicef has forged a partnership focusing on health and hygiene capacity building with the NRCS to build on the successes achieved by the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) and the Catholic Aids Action (CAA).
The partnership will also strengthen NRCS’ capacity to identify households whose children are at risk of malnutrition; offer care-givers targeted education; as well as advise on infant feeding and care practices.
The emergency response component, formed and developed by the Directorate of Disaster Risk Management in the Office of the Prime Minister, covers all seven of the eight regions where NRCS is actively involved.
Currently underway is the construction of pit-latrines as part of the water and sanitation project.
