This past December 10th, Freedom Power Chapel of Yola, Nigeria joined hands with ChildVoice to provide much-needed food relief to internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Pare Camp in the northeastern state of Adamawa in Nigeria, where ongoing Boko Haram terrorist activity and Fulani sectarian violence have displaced 279,000 people in 2017 alone.
Pare Camp is not registered by the Nigerian government as an IDP camp; consequently, the camp’s residents receive no official water, food, or medical relief support. Any food received by the camp comes through the good graces of their neighbors, churches, and local organizations that recognize the need.
ChildVoice first visited Pare Camp in October 2018 after learning about the thousands of people living there who had been displaced from area homes and villages. We are now working with 150 girls in the camp, engaging them in music, dance, group therapy, and drama therapy.
On the day of the event, the camp’s 3,000 residents had finally just run out of resources and had only a few bags of salt in their stores. Thanks to donated money, ChildVoice was able to purchase sufficient supplies of of maize, rice, beans, pasta, oil and other basic foodstuffs to last the camp’s IPDs at least two weeks.
The day was punctuated by joyous celebration. As food was distributed, girls enrolled in ChildVoice Empowerment clubs performed dances, songs, and skits for the community. It was truly an uplifting day, especially given the approaching Christmas season!
In keeping with our mission as a development organization, ChildVoice is now working to find alternative relief partnerships to provide ongoing food, water, and medical support for the camp.