Nurit Galron recently accompanied film actress Mia Farrow, UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador, Esther Guluma, UNICEF's Western and Central African Regional Director and Meira Aboulafia an IsraAID Board Member on a one-week mission to the Central African Republic (CAR) to become the voice of these children in Israel.
The Central African Republic, a country bordering Chad, Sudan and Congo, is considered one of the poorest nations in Africa. The situation in the CAR is harsh mainly due to internal tribal wars, causing tens of thousands of locals to leave their homes and flee into the bush. The CAR is also hosting tens of thousands of refugees from neighboring countries, among them thousands of Darfurians.
The Goodwill Ambassador Project is a joint initiative between Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IsraAID: The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid. This initiative seeks to raise awareness and encourage the Israeli public to become more involved in global humanitarian causes. It also aims to help Israeli artists to use their natural platform to educate Israelis about issues of global concern. This is the first of many journeys to come.
Galron's mission as the first Israeli Humanitarian Goodwill Ambassador was mainly to learn about the state of children in CAR by visiting UNICEF's programs. Galron willl become the voice of these children in Israel, raise awareness and encourage the Israeli public and decision makers to become more active in helping these communities and UNICEF's work.
During their tour the group visited the Darfurian refugee camp in Kaga Bandoro, UNICEF feeding and educational programs in Kaga Bandoro and Paoua, health and specifically HIV centers in Kabo and Bossangoa and also met with UNICEF's NGO partners and local leaders in CAR.
Upon her return, Galron stated: "It's a great honor for me to represent Israel in such a complex place as Africa. I am very moved by what I saw and by the dedication of Mia Farrow towards helping these poor people."
This trip was made possible due to the fruitful partnership with The American Jewish Committee, UNICEF's office in Israel, UNICEF CAR, MFA and IsraAID.
Photo captions:
Ms Farrow and Galron during visit to the Sudanese refugee camp in Sam Ouandja, 16 May 2008.
Nurit Galron, Israeli singer, visiting Sam Ouandja refugee camp. The refugees began arriving in Sam Ouandja in May 2007 following bombing attacks on their town of Dafak, in the Darfur region of Sudan. The number of boys attending school in the camp is two times higher than girls. However, many of these young girls never had the chance to go to school before arriving in the camp. Sam Ouandja, northeastern CAR, 16 May 2008.
Nurit Galron during her visit to a primary school in Betoko. More than 550 children attend the school after it re-opened in 2007. Many of the children are returnees who fled with their families in early 2006 following heavy fighting between armed groups. 6 parent-teachers do their best to educate their children. Betoko, northwestern CAR, 19 May 2008.