2012 Refugees in Burkina Faso

SOS Doctors – Feast of St. Camillus

Servants of St. Camillus

Disaster Relief Services

On this feast day of St. Camillus, I reflect on the work of two members of CTF Central, Brother Luca Perletti and Fr. Paolo Guarise.  They just finished a one week assessment of the situation in northern Burkina Faso where they visited three refugee camps.  SOS DRS paid for the cost of this assessment.  Now, in collaboration with the Camillians of the Vice-Province of Burkina Faso and the Diocese of Dori in that country, SOS DRS is looking to assist some of the 65,000 people who have fled Mali because of famine and war. Just as St. Camillus responded to the health care needs of persons suffering from war in the 1500s, Camillians today are responding to the effects of war in 2012.  Courage, care and conviction are being exemplified by our religious priests, brothers, and sisters who are following in the foot steps of St. Camillus. St. Camillus is the patron saint of the sick, nurses, hospitals, and physicians–and SOS DRS!  Thus we ask St. Camillus in prayer to watch over both the sick in refugee camps and our caregivers trying to meet their needs.

Refugees are settling in the Diocese of Dori in camps and the resettling is being coordinated by UNHCR (for official refugee camps).  These refugees are registered and provided with basic needs.  The CTF will look to “fill the gaps” and provide infrastructure support to the refugees and the local community that is trying to absorb this new population.

Left to Right in the background — Fr. Henri Nitiema, (Vice-Provincial of Burkina Faso); Fr. Paolo Guarise, Brother Luca Perletti

Our community-based approach in Burkina Faso is going to focus on:

1. Hygiene: to build bore wells for water provision for the host community and for refugees.

2. Food provision for the malnourished: to provide the elderly and children (300 people over 6 months) meal supplements. This will be done in conjunction with Caritas and the Diocese of Dori.

3. Health: to make the surgical and medical facilities of the Camillians in Burkina Faso available for refugees.

We need your support to sustain this relief effort in Burkino Faso and build the local community’s infrastructure to absorb our refugee brothers and sisters.

Please consider supporting SOS DRS and our work in Burkina Faso in one of the following ways:

• $40 would help provide temporary shelter for one refugee family
• $80 would help provide food for one refugee family for two months
• $150 would help provide transport, lodging and medical care for one refugee family
• $250 would help provide a Camillian hospital with emergency medical support to expand access
• $500 would help dig one bore hole for water
• $6,000 would help replenish emergency SOS DRS funds used in the assessment process.

The following link will direct you to the CTF/SOS DRS website where your donation will be processed through PayPal.  If you do not have a PayPal account you will need to set one up.  It is relatively easy. Feel free to indicate exactly how you want your donation used by making a comment in the “note to seller” box.  And consider becoming a monthly donor.

http://www.sosdrs.org/English_Help_Us.htm

You can also mail a check to the following address:

SOS DRS
8009 Miramar Parkway
Miramar, FL 33025

Make your check payable to: SOS DRS - to designate gift to Burkina Faso.

We pray for our benefactors and their intentions daily. Please continue to pray for us and all the victims of man-made and natural disasters.  Please join me in prayer on my blog.

http://sosdrs.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/divine-mercy-sunday-april-15-2012/

In Christ – through Mary,

SOS DRS is a non-profit organization and all donations may be deductible. 

About SOS DRS: SOS DRS is a registered 501(c)3 organization in the USA and is an integral part of the Camillian Task Force, the international disaster relief organization of the Ministers  of the Infirm, the Catholic Order founded by St. Camillus de Lellis in 1590.  SOS DRS serve the medical, pastoral and humanitarian needs of people affected by man-made and natural disasters.  SOS DRS is composed of lay people, priests, brothers and sisters who evangelize through healing and witness to the Catholic Faith.

SOS DRS
8009 Miramar Parkway, Miramar, FL 33025
(Toll-free) 877-537-6737

(Office) 754-400-9888

Email: fatherscott@sosdrs.org

http://sosdrs.wordpress.com/