We have received an important update about
the rebel activity in Guinea where your sponsored child lives. Random attacks
on people and property have continued in many areas, especially around
Gueckedou and Macenta. The city of Gueckedou has been virtually empty since
December. Despite the situation, we are pleased to inform you that there
are no reported injuries to sponsored children.
We had anticipated and hoped for a return
to normalcy after the New Year. The latest reports from Country Director
Fritz Foster described an improved, yet still unsafe situation. According
to Fritz, PLAN International's Country Office in Gueckedou was vandalized
last month and 30,000 files containing information about the sponsored
children were burned. Fortunately, staff is rebuilding the files from information
stored on their computer systems.
Although programs have slowed considerably, PLAN staff has been able to make contact with families in the rural areas surrounding Gueckedou. Many schools are functioning and PLAN sponsored health workers are visiting and assisting families. Many rural families have taken in displaced family members and friends who have fled from the cities. Therefore, they are dealing with the financial burden of trying to feed additional people from an already meager income. The Red Cross has a food distribution program in place that has been beneficial to many sponsored families.
Next steps for PLAN in Guinea:
Since Gueckedou remains unsafe, our staff is looking at the possibility of relocating the country office to the zone of N'Zerekore. PLAN has programs in this area that have been relatively unaffected by the rebel attacks. If we are successful at relocating the main office here, it may result in operations returning to normal at a faster rate.
Armed groups remain in the city of Kissidougou, however, PLAN staff are working with families through eight sub-offices in the rural areas. Many homes in Kissidougou were looted and burned during the height of rebel activity two months ago. As a result, this is one of the areas from which many families have fled.
The office in Macenta remains closed, but some program activity has continued in rural areas. There are active health and education projects ongoing in eight of the rural zones.
The zones of N'Zerekore and Yomou are relatively calm and work has been proceeding as normally as possible. The major problem is the strain on existing health and education services brought on by the influx of displaced people.
In addition, PLAN staff is organizing visits to all of our sponsored families and hope to be able to accept mail again very soon. It is possible that we will be able to accept and deliver communications from you by April 30. As soon as this is possible, we will let you know.
For additional information about Guinea, sign on to http://allafrica.com/guinea/.
We are committed to continuing support to the children and families of Guinea. Like you, we are very concerned for their welfare. Thank you for your continued support of our work.