Vietnamese children hit by Typhoon Ketsana are facing months of food shortages as the storm wiped out thousands of hectares of crops.
Wednesday 7 October 2009
A week after the typhoon hit Vietnam vast areas of low-lying paddy fields are still under a metre of water. Much of this season’s crops were lost and the next harvest is not due until March or April 2010. We're planning to distribute rice to over 12,000 families in need of help.
“Every child I spoke to today said their biggest need was for food,” said Kathryn Rawe of Save the Children in Vietnam. “Many of their families’ crops have been completely destroyed and the stores of food they had in the house were soaked through with rain and can’t be eaten. Children are most vulnerable in an emergency and if they are malnourished they become even weaker and more likely to succumb to diseases, like diarrhoea – which can be fatal.”
36,000 hectares of crops damaged
In the affected region of Vietnam, almost 36,000 hectares of rice crops have been damaged or flooded, along with almost 13,000 hectares of sugar cane and corn. Hundreds of thousands of pigs and chickens that families raise to provide vital protein for their children were also killed during the storm. Families face a further food challenge as their kitchen equipment including pots, pans and plates have been swept away by the floodwaters.
Ten-year-old Tuan, who lives in the community of Hai Tranh in Quang Tri province with his grandmother, was only able to return to his home today after seeking refuge with the only neighbour in the village with a two-story home. Everything had been swept away, leaving his bamboo and rattan house completely empty and coated with thick mud. The flood waters in the area are still more than a meter high and his home could still only be reached by boat.
“I’m still very scared because when I came home there was nothing to eat – we have nothing left,” Tuan said. “I’m afraid the house will collapse and the flood will come again.” Save the Children has already begun distributing household kits containing pots, pans and plates to replace items lost in the flood. We will also be distributing food and will be targeting the poorest households and looking at specific food that young children need to stay healthy.
DEC members are now responding in Vietnam, as well as in Indonesia and the Philippines, providing medical care, food, clean water, temporary shelter and clothes but we remain seriously under funded.
Help us reach more children by supporting the Disasters Emergency Appeal.