Annual Review 2005
At the heart of the SOS Children’s Village
An SOS Children’s Village provides a loving family to children in need. To deal with increasing numbers of children orphaned as a result of the Pakistan earthquake or in cases where children have been abandoned, we provide a new home complete with an SOS Mother and brothers and sisters. Children are able to grow con.dently and successfully in their own societies.
Africa
The Saharan state of Chad, in northern Africa, is home to over 9.5 million people and is one of the poorest countries in the world. Thirty years of civil war had a devastating impact on the country’s social, economic and medical infrastructure and its children.
An estimated 10,000 orphaned and abandoned children are reported to live on the capital N’Djamena’s streets where they are exposed to drugs, alcohol and prostitution.
SOS Children is the first NGO to offer long-term family-based care for children in need in Chad. The new village symbolises the hope of an entire nation. Mr Hassan Terap, the Minister for Social Action and Family, said “SOS Children’s Village N’Djamena is an answer to the government’s concern about the well-being of children in Chad. It is like a precious jewel which has to be preserved very carefully. It means a significant contribution to our efforts in improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable people in general and the children in particular.”
SOS Children’s Village N’Djamena is located in the Diguel district (about 15 minutes away from the city centre) on a plot of land donated by the government. The first families moved into the village in early 2005 and all twelve family houses are now fully occupied with a total of 120 children. Because of its roofs, which are unique to the area, neighbours nicknamed the village the ‘red roof area’.
Near the village, there are three more SOS Children projects in the area, aimed mainly at supporting children from the local communities around the capital. An SOS Nursery School with a capacity of 60 children and an SOS Primary School for some 180 pupils opened their doors at the start of the new school year on 10 October 2005. An SOS Medical Centre will support thousands in the local community by offering free first aid, general medicines and consultations as well as specific consultations in dermatology, paediatrics and gynaecology to around 600 patients a month.