570 of the Caucasia conflict refugee children that have found shelter in Tblisi, Georgia, will receive a pair of strong winter shoes each from Dorcas. On August 8, 2008 a military conflict broke out between Russia and Georgia. The conflict resulted in many causalities and displaced people of which some have taken refuge in Tbilisi. Many fled, leaving their homes and belongings behind to look for shelter and refuge. Now many have nothing but the clothes they wear. DAI's local partner, the Salvation Army, began supporting the victims in Gori, Tblisi, and Batumi immediately on August 8 when the conflict broke out by setting up a refugee centre and distributing aid supplies to the refugees.
The shoes that the children left their homes in are only suitable for summer weather. Without winter shoes, these children would not be able to attend school or be involved in outside activities, neither when living in the refugee centre or when possibly returning home.Dorcas also renders support to refugees in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia.
Photo: Refugees from the zone of conflict between Georgia and Russia-backed South Ossetian separatists are seen at a refugee camp in Tbilisi, August 23, 2008. Courtesy of Alertnet: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich (GEORGIA) REUTERS/GLEB GARANICH
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Caucasia Crisis: Relief for Refugees
- "People left in a rush, leaving everything they had behind" says Albert Dokter, Dorcas Regional Director for CIS. "Now they need food, clothing, hygiene items - but also personal attention.That's is why Dorcas is responding."
August 8, the capital of South Ossetia, Tschinvali and surrounded villages were bombed with heavy artillery. Within a few hours, 70% of the city was destroyed. According to Russian and Georgian officials, up to 30,000 refugees have fled northward into North Ossetia in Russia.
Dorcas, in partnership with long-term partner organisation NOMCC (North Ossetian Mission Christian Charity) provides food, hygiene material and clothing for 6,000 of the refugees. Of these, some 2,500 are staying with relatives in Vladikavkaz while some 500 have found shelter in sanatorias. These 500 are children. About 3,000 are staying in a refugee camp near the city of Dzhava, South Ossetia. Dorcas' partner NOMCC has received a request from the regional government in South Ossetia to support the refugees.
Dorcas is also currently preparing a relief response project to the victims in Georgia.
While the many negotiations, conversations and discussions are going on to solve the conflict, the life and situation of individual persons tell the story of the brutalities of war.
photo: courtesy of Alertnet, REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko, REF: RTR20XPM
Floods in Eastern Europe
In response to the recent heavy floods, Dorcas Aid International, sent three transports with relief items to affected regions in Romania, Ukraine and Moldavia in the first two weeks of August.
The fourth transport heads for Moldova today, August 15.
The transports consists of food, shoes, hygiene articles, beds and mattresses, kitchen utensils as well as building material for reparation/rebuilding of houses. Parts of Ukraine and Moldova were devastated in the worst flood in two decades: In Moldova, Europe's poorest country, homes with walls built of mud have "dissolved and crumbled like chocolate", a Red Cross representative says.
Projects In Ukraine, DAI supports projects around the city of Uzhgorod in the southwest where children, families and elderly are supported in sponsorship projects. Dorcas also provides shelter for street-children. In the north of Romania, Dorcas supports a number of projects such as the agricultural project in Tirgu Mures. In Moldavia, there are a number of social and sponsorship projects that Dorcas supports.
