The clothes, come at the right time for my children

Saturday, December 10, 2016
A mother’s pride is the safety and comfort of her children. This inherent desire is not any different for mothers in the displaced camp of Ngortogol -120 kms from Diffa- who had to flee the violence caused by militant groups in the Lake Chad Basin. Temperature in Niger, can go down below 20° C /68° F at night, especially during the months of November to February. At this period children, tend to suffer from flu and in worst cases pneumonia. Especially the ones that don’t have enough clothes, like the children in the internally displaced settlements, near N’guigmi.“I was sad to see children with hardly any clothes on, knowing that the weather will soon change. As a father I was moved, because I couldn’t imagine my own children, in the cold without warm clothes, especially at Christmas.”Says LCB Acting Response Director, Patrick Sooma. On the day of the distribution, Aicha Mahadi, a 25 year old mother a three, (two boys and one Girl) told of how she was forced to flee the Lake Chad with her family a year ago. “We left everything in the Lake, our home, our corn field, our goats and camels and two members of the family that, were taken by the militants” Says Aicha, covering her face with a scarf (Hijab). “Although we have come back home, since this is the village of our ancestors, we live in a small tent out in the open. As you can see my two year old, has a bad flu and I don’t have means to pay clothes or medicine for her. So these clothes, come at the right time for my children” She explains, while picking out a pink pullover and a pair of socks from the winter kit that she received at the distribution. Aicha’s children rush, to wear their clothes. When asked, about his new clothing the eldest child responds.“I am very happy because I never had winter clothes before. I will wear them every day" The smile on his face is contagious After helping the children to dress up Aicha, carries on with her sad story: “When we left the Lake,we were able to bring some goats with us, but they were soon sold to buy food. So these days we can spend a whole day without eating. Here the only thing that helps us survive, is the solidarity between us, we share everything we have” After an assessment, in N’guigmi municipality and a discussion with community leaders, government representatives and local partners, World Vision Acting Response Director, Patrick Sooma, made a decision to organize a winter kit distribution, targeting two communities in N’guigmi, (N’gagala and N’gortogol). In Aicha’s village 620 Children ages 0 to 14 received a winter kit containing four items (1 blanket, 1 pullover, 1 winter hat, 1 pair of socks). A similar distribution is planned earlier next year in N’gagala village where approximately 1 254 children will receive winter kits.