Put a school under the tree for a child who is hungry to learn!

Emergency

Dear friends,

There is the political upheaval in Afghanistan last summer and there is the life of four-year-old Roxana... While waiting for a more normal situation to settle in this battered country, her family is struggling to provide for itself. A currency, the Afghani, that has collapsed, complicated borders, skyrocketing prices... Beyond the fear inspired by the new Taliban government, it is hunger that anguishes the Afghans today. Everywhere, in the streets of the capital, hands are stretched out.

This morning, Roxana and her mother walked ten kilometres to our Kabul clinic to receive a bag of nutritional flour from Dr Aryana, which will give them a few days' relief. Every day, thirty-five women are treated by our doctor/paediatrician, who also distributes food supplements to their children. We hope to resume our construction of mixed schools soon...

There is the dramatic situation in Lebanon and there is the daily life of Charbel, twelve years old... The plastic sheeting that replaces the exploded windows of his house in Achrafieh, Beirut, hardly protects him from the draughts. Now the one hour of electricity a day brings him little comfort, since the family fridge is almost empty anyway. His consolation, since he stopped his schooling for lack of means, comes from the presence of his mother at his side all day. She has decided to suspend her teaching job, as her salary is barely enough to pay for the petrol to get to her work.

We were able to save Charbel and his family. Thanks to our financial support, this young boy has returned to school, his mother has started teaching again, the bill for the generator has been paid, making it possible to store scarce food for more than 24 hours and to keep warm. Soon, the house will have new windows and, finally, our food vouchers will allow him to forget about hunger. At least for Christmas.

Every Afghan family, every Lebanese family is courageously facing the economic catastrophe in their country. Thanks to you, hundreds of them are receiving our solidarity.

In Armenia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Burkina Faso, Laos, Viet Nam, hunger remains at the heart of families' concerns. The effects of climate change, but above all the current chain of conflicts mean that today one child out of three suffers from malnutrition in the world. A worrying increase. And societies that are cracking, weakened by an abysmal plunge into poverty.

Hunger, a question of survival to which education can provide a partial response. Especially when, at the same time, one child out of three is illiterate in countries affected by conflict or disaster...

This is why, on all our missions, in spite of the weapons' noise, in spite of the access difficulties, our local teams continue our educational and sanitary programmes, our school constructions, our support to toy libraries, dispensaries, maternities... In thirty years of humanitarian actions, Mission Enfance's havens of peace have enlightened the life of one million five hundred thousand children in distress in the world. Let's not despair about tomorrow, let's act today!

For Christmas, help Charbel and Roxana's friends to take the road to their future again! Thank you!

Please believe, dear friends, in our deepest gratitude and our best wishes!

Domitille Lagourgue
Director of Mission Enfance

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