Wellington (Fides Service) - A team of New Zealand Caritas workers is in Sudan to help homeless people in Darfur where there is the world’s worst humanitarian tragedy in recent times. Besides material and economic assistance the NZ team wants to show solidarity and put their experience and competence at the service of the suffering people in refugee camps in this tormented region of Sudan. In neighbouring Chad there are at least 1.5 million refugees who fled violence and massacres perpetrated by the pro-government militia Janjaweed.
Mark Mitchell was the first of the NZ team to land Khartoum and is now in Darfur to provide help with logistics, movement of water and food and building of shelters and transport and distribution of necessary material and also radio communication. “The situation is difficult-Mitchell told Fides - and with the rain season logistics cold become a nightmare. But we will do our best”.
Caritas New Zealand and partners like Christian World Service, are providing 125,000 people in three refugee camps with food, blankets, clean water and basic medical care.
Soon Mitchell will be joined by Derrick Depledge and Kate Zwartz, operators with considerable experience in humanitarian interventions in crisis areas and more specifically in the field of water and medical assistance, to prevent outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dysentery.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 28/7/2004 lines 26 words 288)