The destruction caused by Cyclone Kenneth, the strongest storm on record to hit Mozambique, may require another massive aid effort in a country still reeling from the year’s first tropical cyclone, the UN has said. With high winds and torrential rain, Kenneth made landfall in the country’s north on Thursday night, five weeks after Cyclone Idai devastated its centre. … [Read more...]
Fighting cholera post-hurricane, Haiti needs $120M in emergency assistance
At a cramped police station serving as a makeshift clinic, Darline Derosier fastened IV drips to jail cell bars, wiped the brows of cholera patients and tended to the wounds of those injured when Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti’s southwestern peninsula. She was the only health worker helping about 40 patients Monday inside the station bereft of police as she waited for … [Read more...]
Vulnerable Sudanese continue to flee as aid pours in
The conflict that broke out in South Sudan on 15th December 2013 has left thousands dead and displaced hundreds of thousands more. Vulnerable populations continue to flee ongoing fighting in South Sudan as seasonal rains worsen their already dire living conditions. Oxfam are currently supporting people affected by the conflict with clean water, sanitation and emergency food … [Read more...]
South Africans urged to help fight hunger
Representative of the Gift of the Givers, Emily Thomas has urged South Africans to join them in fighting against hunger in the country. Speaking exclusively to SABC Digital News, Thomas said it was a privilege to give food to the needy on 'World Hunger Day'. World Hunger Day was aimed at finding sustainable solutions to ending extreme hunger and poverty. The United … [Read more...]
Church leaders pledge support for strike
A range of high-profile church and community leaders have issued a petition calling for humanitarian support to families in the platinum belt. “There is a humanitarian tragedy unfolding on the platinum belt. While supporting current attempts to reach a settlement to the dispute, the reality on the ground is that children, women and men do not have food, and hardship will … [Read more...]
Zimbabwe flood victims receive donations
Zimbabwe's largest diversified media group, Zimpapers, through its Zimpapers Digital-caring for communities initiative, handed over goods donated by readers which included food, blankets and clothes to victims of the Tsholotsho floods to the district's Civil Protection Unit. The truckload of goods were collected from readers all over Zimbabwe and Zimpapers staffers who were … [Read more...]
Soweto is mopped up after floods
Reconstruction is moving swiftly ahead in part of Soweto damaged by flash floods last week, while relief aid is being given to families whose homes were washed away. AN estimated R350-million will be spent by the City in "cleaning up and reconstructing" those parts of Soweto that were wrecked by flash floods last week. Gabu Tugwana, the City's director of communications, … [Read more...]
Housing for Christmas in the Philippines
To assist the people of the Philippines who have suffered unimaginable destruction and great personal loss Gift of the Givers has added a further dimension to their highly successful mission to this region. They are launching a project called "Housing for Christmas in the Philippines". In Palompon Island 7000 families have lost their homes in 51 districts. It is indeed … [Read more...]
Calls for Duduza relief aid
"We are worried about school; we have no bags, no stationery, no uniforms. We will fall behind in our education whilst other children will work". During a trauma counselling session with children affected by the tornado in Duduza, besides an overwhelming fear of the "black wind with two eyes" or "the snake that laid its eggs," the preoccupation and greatest anxiety was the … [Read more...]
Largest hospital for ‘gift of the givers’
Gift of the Givers has just been granted permission to set up base, medical teams, equipment and supplies at Banadir Hospital, the largest hospital in Mogadishu (the largest city in Somalia) where thousands of patients are flocking to from various refugee camps in and around Mogadishu and the South, and are in desperate need of life saving medical assistance. The absence of … [Read more...]
Another 600 tons for Somalia relief
South Africa's Ubuntu Spirit knows no bounds. We are indeed making an emphatic continental statement that Africa is coming to the aid of Africans unreservedly. The power is not in the proclamation but in the execution: being the first African agency and the only agency in the world to fly 6 planes into Mogadishu in a two week period delivering 112 tons of aid, gave a very good … [Read more...]
Famine in Somalia: A desperate call for help
"As the hunger took its toll a husband and wife left their two children in the 'forest'. They could not bear the thought of their children dying in front of their eyes nor did they want their children to sense that they (the parents) were dying". This is Somalia; a monumental African tragedy that requires an urgent, co-ordinated international response to alleviate a massive … [Read more...]
Famine stricken Somalia vs Climate Diplomacy at COP17
Realist Foreign Policy refers to the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states. It might seem strange that an article that opens with a line like this finds itself in an environmental publication. Yet, it is not strange at all, as environmental issues like climate change don't 'respect' state boundaries. There is an environmental side to … [Read more...]
