Aid, Medicine Arrives for Flood Victims in West Africa
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 Dakar woman and child receive aid at a camp site.
 OBI distributing food and aid to flood victims.
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DAKAR, Senegal - After nearly a month of torrential rains – the worst in 20 years –residents living in the low lying suburbs of Dakar are seeking refuge from the floodwaters that remain inches deep in their homes and streets.
Thousands of families find themselves fleeing not only stagnant waters, but swarms of unruly malaria-carrying mosquitoes, cholera outbreaks and other waterborne diseases.
The Senegalese government has initiated a disaster response, setting up official camp sites to house and treat displaced victims; however there are a number of overflow and unofficial camp sites scrambling to find adequate food, water and medical treatment.
“We are focusing our efforts on reaching those in the unofficial sites,” said Jon Cassel, Operation Blessing’s representative in Dakar. “They have received very little as most of the efforts by the government have been concentrated on the already full official sites.”
“We are purchasing rice, cereals, milk, mosquito netting, medicines, various cleaning supplies, and giving them away in organized distributions to the unofficial camps,” he added.
To date, Operation Blessing has supplied nearly 65 percent of the disaster relief coming from faith-based organizations. Medical teams of OBI-funded doctors arrived to several camps, dispensing medicine to evacuees and treating the sick.
One local volunteer coordinator told OBI teams that although many people and organizations had passed through, none had returned to bring aid to the camps. Only Action Compassion, a ministry partnering with Operation Blessing, returned to the unofficial camps, bringing relief as well as holding activities for the children and meetings for the women.
“We had several women come up to us, with tears in their eyes and voices breaking, expressing their thanks to us from the bottom of their hearts,” said Cassel. “I was deeply moved. It is an honor to be a part of this.”
How You Can Help
You can take part in Operation Blessing's ongoing disaster response efforts by making an online donation to help those affected by natural disasters.
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