Recovery and equipping of schools of key importance 45 days before beginning of the new school year

Children in flood-affected areas are suffering from psychosocial distress due to displacement, the loss of their homes and loved ones, the destruction of their schools and the overall disruption to their lives as they knew it only two months ago. Today, 45 days before beginning of the new school year, many schools are still unusable and it is still unknown if those schools will be ready for successful beginning of the new school year, Save the Children warns.

Knowing how important it is for the psychosocial recovery of the youngest to re-establish the education process after natural and other disasters, Save the Children assists in rehabilitation and equipping of schools that were damaged in floods and landslides all over Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Olovo Mixed High School “Musa Ćazim Ćatić” is the first one of Zenica-Doboj Canton schools to get help from Save the Children in overcoming the consequences of floods. For this school, Save the Children secured funding for the full rehabilitation and equipping of one classroom at the ground floor that was heavily damaged by the flood.

Besides this school, funds were secured for additional 10, identified in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Zenica-Doboj Canton, for urgent interventions for rehabilitation and/or equipping in order to have these schools, at least partially, ready to receive students in September. Prior to this donation, Save the Children distributed cleaning and disinfection items (water pumps, dehumidifiers, shovels) as well as personal protection kits (gloves, rubber boots, face protection masks) for volunteers who worked on cleaning up of schools in this Canton.

“The magnitude of the floods on families has been extremely distressing for the children in affected areas.  Our staff have been talking to children about their experiences, such as watching their homes fill with water, having to grab hold of a younger sibling to run to safety in the dead of night, and not knowing when they will be able to go back home and see their friends again.  Parents have told us how their children have become more introverted since the disaster and how their children become physically upset now whenever it starts to rain,” says Andrea Zeravcic, Save the Children Director.

Save the Children is aware of the fact that even at normal times it is a great effort for limited family budgets to equip children for the new school year. That is especially the case when families are facing consequences of such a large scale natural disaster. “We also want to help children through providing school supplies that will be distributed at the areas affected by floods. This way we aim to reduce, at least partially, the pressure on limited resources available to families,” stresses Ms. Zeravcic.

“Save the Children hopes to help these children regain a sense of normalcy. We also call on other donors and institutions to take part in securing conditions for the beginning of the new school year timely, in dry and rehabilitated schools, with students having all they need for the successful beginning of the new school year,” explains Zeravcic.

From the beginning of the crisis, Save the Children participated in providing life-saving aid as well as humanitarian aid for the affected population. Since the floods onset, the equipment necessary for the rescue actions for those in need was purchased and delivered to BiH Ministry of Security and to the Civilian Protection. The intervention package contained rubber boats, rubber boots, electricity generators, water pumps, raincoats and sand bags. Besides direct assistance to the rescue teams, Save the Children provided aid for evacuated and displaced persons. This aid included food, hygiene products for families, baby packages and disinfection products. Additionally, equipment for personal protection and cleaning of flooded houses was distributed, along with disinfection products for water and wells.