More than 100 Haitian orphans receive aid from Nepalese UN peacekeepers

Nepalese troops serving with the United Nations mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, have delivered food, clothing and medical care to some 112 orphaned children in a remote mountain village, the UN peacekeeping operation announced today.

The blue helmets made the humanitarian trip to Kenskoff, 45 minutes outside the capital Port-au-Prince, on Friday with a medical contingent consisting of a doctor, three nurses and a paramedic.

“For each child we do a health assessment to assess nutritional status, and check their measurements – weight, height, etc.,” said military doctor Ritesh Sinha, adding that “nearly 70 per cent of the children examined show severe signs of malnutrition.”

The medical team administered treatments ranging from re-hydration solutions and antibiotics to de-worming medicine and anti-bacterial ointments to the orphans living in four separate children’s centres in Kenskoff.

The orphans also face food shortages and poor hygienic facilities, as well as a shortage of classrooms and general maintenance problems in the centre, according to a news release issued by MINUSTAH.

“We are here to lend our support to the Haitian people, and this is also shown through food aid and medical care,” said Major Thapa Ramkaji, adding that although the troops cannot meet all the children’s desperate needs, “we try to make our contribution.”

A donation, presented exclusively from the Nepalese contingent of MINUSTAH, included soy-based high energy biscuits and chocolate and new clothes.

This latest humanitarian aid effort outside of the capital, Port-au-Prince, was part of regular relief work conducted by MINUSTAH troops to provide assistance to the Caribbean nation’s impoverished population.