Since 2016, residents of the drought hard-hit area in Gia Lai and flood-prone in Quang Binh have become familiar with the red-color uniforms on which written three words “Save the Children”. Amidst harsh weather condition with burning sun, fierce dryness, they came to bring the needy drinking water as well as financial supports. Walking long way on muddy or even submerged-in–floodwater roads, they committed to deliver necessary goods to all households, bring stationeries to all students. What they were doing simply represented one thing: LOVE.

Quenching the thirst

2016 was a difficult year for people living in several wards of Gia Lai province. Severe drought caused by abnormal weather made their lives become tougher than ever. Krong Pa, among them all, was the hardest-hit.

According to journalism reports, in Krong Pa, the majority of lakes, ponds and streams had became empty, exposing their cracked beds under burning sun. This situations even occured to some lakes which used to be full of water and wells which usually served as major source of water supply for daily activities. Serious shortage of water made lives tougher for people. Fortunately, they were not alone.

Noticing the needy areas, Red Cross Society (RCS) of Vietnam and Save The Children (SCI) instantly initiated a joint project on disaster relief. On Dec 21 morning, the Samaritans were already present in the drought severe-hit area Ia Rmok (Krong Pa), granting livelihood cash and rainwater tanks to the locals. The cash grant was pided into two phases, with total value of VND 3.5 million per household.

In the first phase of sponsorship, 141 needy families in Ia Rmok had received VND 1,650,000 for each. Most of them chose to use the money to restore livestocks (goats, pigs) rearing. Upon receiving the grant, recipients had to make a pledge of using the money in compliance with the aforementioned purpose, as SCI staff would return to check after one week. If any household violates the pledge, they would not receive the remaining amount in phase 2. Along with financial supports, SCI also handed rainwater tanks to 97 households of the affected areas.

Besides reaching out to Ia Rmok, from Dec 20 to 22 of 2016, RCS of Gia Lai in coordination with SCI, had distributed livelihood cash grant and water tanks to 1,200 poor and poverty- threshold households in 6 wards of Krong Pa, namely: Dat Bang, Ia Mlah, Ia Rmok, Ia Hdred, Chu Drang and Krong Nang.

Distribution of livelihood cash grant to disaster affected areas in Gia Lai province by SCI (source: tintaynguyen.com)

Accordingly, each of 720 households had received cash amount of VND 1,650,000 for livelihood recovery. Recipients were permitted to purchase breeding stocks of their choice using the money. Simultaneously, 480 households were provided with 1,000-litre rainwater tanks and assembling tools. Each tank was worth VND 2.8 million. Total value of phase 1 grant was VND 2.6 billion.

These aforementioned was only part of what had been done by SCI Vietnam in the project “Supporting families and children affected by drought and salt intrusion in Highland central and Mekong River Delta”.

Nguyen Chanh, Deputy Chair of the People’s Committee of Krong Pa district, expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the organization by saying “Scarcity of water is the biggest concern in our district as it might lead to waterborne diseases and other complicated issues. When people have to search for water by themselves, it might be unsafe. The prompt support from SCI is truly practical in meeting our urgent needs.”

Sun shines in the rain

While Central Highland people struggled to recover from the most severe drought of the century, residents in Central provinces, in contrast, had to fight against ferocious floods. Prolonged torrential rainfall had left the whole area submerged in a sea of water throughout 3 months (October to December, 2016). An estimated number of 1 million people were affected by the disaster. In details, 134 were killed and missing while hundreds of houses were submerged.

Upon being updated about the situation, the SCI team instantly set off on a service trip to help the needy. Just one week after the flood, over 2,200 boxes of necessary commodities had been distributed to severely affected households in three provinces: Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Binh Dinh. In addition, local people received cash grant of VND 500,000 – 2,000,000 per family. The cash would be used to purchase fertilizer, rice seeds, livestocks for resuming agricultural production. At the same time, over 3,500 school bags and stationeries were handed to local kids, as SCI wanted to help them come back to school as soon as possible. SCI also sponsored VND billions to finance learning facilities, clean water supply equipments and sanitary infrastructures for localities.

“We want to ensure that those who suffer from adversities (natural disasters, epidemic, conflicts, etc.) are all provided with sufficient medical care, accomodations, food and clean water as soon as possible, since children are highly susceptible to disasters. They deserve proper care and protection, as well as minimum interruption in schooling. Bearing in mind these ideas, we have been lending direct support to the affected children, their families and community. Kids, as we all know, cannot develop to their best without the love of family and community.” Affirmed Dragana Strinic, Director of SCI Vietnam./.

( Phi Yen )