SOS Children in Chad

Chad mapOverview of Chad

Chad is the most northerly Central African country and borders with Nigeria, Niger, Libya, Sudan, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

It is the fifth largest country in Africa and is mainly desert. Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world and depends on foreign help. The country has suffered through decades of civil war and social and economic conflicts, which have left the economy and infrastructure in a desperate state.

The country's economy is largely dependent on agriculture, with 85% of the working population employed in the agricultural sector. The average daily income per head is less than 50 pence (compared with £46.60 in the UK). The situation of many children is exceedingly dismal with child care facilities lacking throughout the country.

Our Work in Chad

Mother and baby, ChadN'Djamena

In 1988, negotiations began between SOS Children and the government of Chad. After a very promising beginning, talks were interrupted for years due to differences in concepts. In 1996 negotiations were taken up again. The decisive step was finally taken in 2002 with the signing of a government agreement, also owing to the support by several committed celebrities who worked hard behind the scenes to promote the idea of SOS Children's Villages in the country. The government made a plot of land available to SOS Children in the capital of Ndjamena and in 2003 construction work began.

In 2005, SOS Children's Village N'Djamena was completed. The Village has twelve houses providing a new home and a new family for up to 120 orphaned and abandoned children. A multi-purpose hall on the village site provides a space for the children and families to celebrate events together. In addition, SOS Children built an SOS Nursery which can look after up to 50 children in two classes. An SOS Primary School located in the village provides an education for over 200 children in six classes. Both the nursery and the school are open to the local community as well as to children from the village. An SOS Medical Centre provides regular medical check-ups and promotes preventative medicine in the local community. It can treat up to 5,500 patients a year.

SOS Children also run an Emergency Relief Programme in Bahai in Chad, to support children and families fleeing the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. SOS Children provides psycho-social support to children, who are often traumatized by their experiences.

An SOS Social Centre has been established in N’Djari, which offers Family Strengthening Programmes  to support families to stay together and help to prevent child abandonment. SOS Children provide training for parents to help them to support their children financially. The Programme also ensures that children have access to essential services (e.g. educational, nutritional, health support) for their healthy development. This includes offering counselling & psychological support where necessary.

Life in SOS Children's Villages Chad: Traumatised children from Darfur need psychosocial careChildren playing in refugee camp, Chad

SOS Children launched an Emergency Relief Programme for refugees from Darfur in September 2006 in Bahai, eastern Chad. The SOS relief team, which also includes refugees, is working in Oure Cassoni, Chad's second largest refugee camp with around 26,000 people. The team focuses on providing psychosocial care for traumatised children and their parents. There is still a tremendous need for this care.

The Emergency Relief Programme provides psychosocial support for many children and adults who had not previously received any support. Many of the refugees have been living in the temporary desert camp since 2004. "Before we had finished building the SOS Centre, we went directly to the families in their tents and where they were living to find those who needed help the most. People's reactions were very positive. The fact that someone was coming up to them, listening to them and taking their problems seriously helped them," says Yolanda van den Broek, director of the Emergency Relief Programme, describing the initial reactions to the programme on the border with Sudan.

SOS Children is the only NGO to offer psychosocial help in Bahai, and works closely with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Rescue Committee. "Since we are the only ones to provide psychosocial and psychiatric help, other NGOs contact us and ask us to help staff members who have been caught up in attacks or need psychological care for some other reason. We have even counselled a few NGO workers", says Yolanda.

When possible, the children attend group therapy sessions, where they play, sing and paint; these activities provide children with a sense of security, which is extremely important. At the present time, 322 refugee children benefit from this service.

Local Contact

SOS Villages d'Enfants Tchad

Quartier N'Djari

B.P. 113

N'Djamena

Chad

Tel: +235/251 77 73

e-mail: vesostchad@yahoo.fr

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