Sponsor's update letter from Ndjamena
26/03/2008
Update for activity in 2007
Year 2007 has many troubles; no durable stability in point of view security. The armed conflict to Sudan border and also inside of our country caused the displacement of the population around in the big town. This situation has been a real difficulty for SOS intervention in Oursi Casoni refuges camp in Bahaï.
In SOS children village centre, the request for abandoned children will being is more and more high. To the periphery of N’djamena and even in the provinces the families are living as serious poverty in spite of Chad oil exploitation. Since the children couldn’t go to school, we notice nowadays, the proliferation of children in the street during the study hours.
The long-awaited new program to strengthen the family, by the population around the village is done yet. It’s bringing a welfare benefits to the profitable family and above all orphans and vulnerable children.
Perspective of receiving vulnerable children in long term:
Through the consensus politics toward the world and particularly through a partnership agreement with UNICEF, SOS Chad is becoming a pilot non government organisation in charge of the development of children.
The families houses of SOS children village have been completely full in 2007; 120 vulnerable children are in.
Prevention of children rejection: consolidation of the family:
The prevention program is already done, with one coordinator recruited in December. The communal volunteers have been trained and work now in differents sites. All the profitable children are educated and have a comfortable medical care. The food distribution program should be executing in January 2008.
SOS Children's Village N'djamena
The SOS village children of N’djamena welcome his first on March 17th 2005. They were in number: of 50. Today the village counts 120 children among whom 56 girls and 64 boys.
The integration in the community is increased, associated with football and basketball teams as well as the cricket team (a British game newly arrived in Chad). Two teams senior and junior are being trained in the village’s play ground. The young volunteers of this discipline have started to train some elder children of the village.
During the first semester 2007, SOS mothers initiated the redynamisation of good neighbour hood women in the district of Ndjari. Though, those women meet in turn in a family to discuss and exchange point of views. Those meetings are also the occasion of developing the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance as well as mixing cultures and religions.
SOS Nursery School
For the academic year 2007-2008, the SOS Nursery School of N’djamena welcomed 101 children, among whom 22 SOS children, 4 children of the staff, 9 SOS students on a grant and 66 external children. With regard to the total number of last year, we remark that there was no increase because, the three sections are saturated and we want to repair this overflow the coming year to respect the SOS norms. Over 34 students of the school who passed for primary school, we registered a result of 95% of success.
In the coming time, the SOS Nursery School plans his objectives as follow:
1-To equip the SOS Nursery School with toboggans and swings
2-To finalise the organisation of the hut which serves as classroom for the junior section
3-Organising the playgrounds in the school yard
4-Promote sociocultural activities
5-Organising grass spaces in the yard.
SOS Primary School
During the summer holidays in August 2007, SOS children attended remedial classes taught by the teachers and SOS aunts. The school canteen was opened as soon as the class resumes. Over 180 pupils attended from the SOS Children's Village and the local community.
The school results were in general good. In the school year 2006-2007, exam pass rates were 83% while the Chad Primary Certificate achieved 94.45%. The examination pass rate for acceding to secondary school reached 86.95%.
SOS Medical Centre
The users of SOS medical centre are made up of SOS children, the staff of Chad SOS and their beneficiaries as well as patients from surroundings districts. The centre maintains good relationship with the Centre Al-Nadjima in the field of volunteer HIV/AIDS testing and the health centre of Ndjari in the matter of SOS children vaccination. Over 8,100 patients were seen throughout 2007.
Relevant Countries: Chad.