One year after the earthquake, many people are still dependent on aid. Many families are still living in makeshift camps or makeshift accommodation and lack basic supplies.
In the earthquake on September 8, 2023, more than 3,000 people died and more than 500,000 people lost their homes, including several children. 60,000 houses were destroyed as well as at least 530 schools – with a major impact on the education of 100,000 children. “Everything was in ruins, the roads were cut off, children were left alone, it was terrible,” said Samya ElMousti, national director of SOS Children’s Villages in Morocco.
SOS Children’s Villages provided emergency aid immediately after the earthquake. “Our team worked hard,” says ElMousti. Thanks to its decades-long presence in Morocco, the aid organization was able to reach the affected children and families quickly and provide effective help: a total of 27,000 children and more than 9,000 adults received assistance with, among other things, accommodation, food, medicine. , clothing, access to water and psychological first aid.
“In the second phase, starting at the beginning of this year, we will support the affected children and families as they rebuild,” says ElMousti. SOS Children’s Villages built wells, set up modular classrooms for more than 7,000 children, ran education and digitization courses, supported more than 10,000 children and adults with cognitive support and helped nearly 600 families to rebuild their lives construction Schools were renovated together with partners.
Although much remains to be done, ElMousti is cautiously optimistic. She says: “We hear people smiling again, they start to trust again and slowly return to their daily lives. “
SOS Children’s Villages provides emergency aid around the world
Since 2012, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has increased fivefold – from 62 million to 363 million in 2023 (UN OCHA). Especially in long-term and unfortunately forgotten crises, people lose their livelihoods and need ongoing support. The emergency aid from SOS Children’s Villages often goes to reconstruction and development projects to provide long-term support to children and families. In 2023, SOS Children’s Villages humanitarian projects reached more than 1.3 million people in 32 crises around the world – more than half of them children.
For more information and the opportunity to donate to emergency aid projects so that SOS Children’s Villages can continue to help quickly and effectively in unexpected disasters, go to: https://www.sos-kinderdorf.at/helfen-sie-mit/spenden/nothilfe
