SOS Children in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea lies on the Atlantic Coast of west Africa, to the south of Cameroon.

It has a population of just 400,000 and is one of the smallest countries in Africa. Despite some wealth from recently discovered oil deposits, most of the population live below the poverty line. The infant mortality rate is high, as is life expectancy, and there are high levels of unemployment and illiteracy.

We began working in Equatorial Guinea in the late 1990s, when a nursery and a primary school were set up in Bata, the country's second largest city, as part of a programme to improve child welfare and the level of education.

We followed this by setting up a community in Bata which opened in 2000 on the same site, donated by the government in San Pedro de Lea, a mainly middle-class residential area about 2 km from the city centre which is well served by public transport. The community has ten family houses which are home to 100 children.

In 2001, an SOS Medical Centre was opened to provide medical care for the local people. With the capacity to treat over 2000 patients a year, the centre has a ten bed in-patient ward as well as an operating and delivery room.

Aids Orphans in Equatorial Guinea

See also Aids Orphan Projects in Equatorial Guinea, Africa.