Press Office at Tuesday’s Child

The Good Ship Lollipop – Aid Ship for Child Refugees to Sicily

NEWS RELEASE • NEWS RELEASE • NEWS RELEASE

Monday 28th September 2015
Tuesday’s Child is sending aid to child refugees rescued from the Mediterranean in Sicily by search and rescue ships.

The Belfast children’s charity is collecting essential aid items and donations for support of babies, children and young people coming in on the boats from North Africa, including children travelling unaccompanied.

The influx of refugees into the Sicilian ports is not new.  The charity partner, Salesian missionaries and their team, have welcomed and provided for boat migrants since the 1980s. The current emergency has made the work much more challenging and funds and aid are needed to cope.

“We have chosen to focus on Sicily as this is where navy search and rescue ships, co-ordinated by the Italian navy, are dropping many refugees picked up at sea”, said Orla Sheehan, founder of Tuesday’s Child. “We are sending aid to both Palermo and Catania, where so many people arrive on ships each month, after making terrible journeys at great risk.

We always try and work with missionaries, as they tend to have well established networks on the ground,  and, like us, work unsalaried, so hard raised funds often go much further . Most importantly, they bring the love of Christ to the most needy”.
Projects, Tuesday’s Child is  appealing for include, a kindergarden in Santa Chiara , in the poorest part of Palermo, that looks after child refugees from 10 different countries and the adjacent  school for 6-18 year olds. Some of the children come in on the boats, some of the children are born to refugee parents already in Sicily and settled. Most of the buildings in Santa Chiara have been converted into temporary shelters for migrants who often may only stay a short time, before moving on to refugee camps or making their own way elsewhere.

Tuesday’s Child is also supporting  a first aid station (Don Bosco Island) in Catania where hundreds of refugees pass through, and as well as first aid, food and shelter are provided clean clothes.

The missionaries and their volunteers also go out on the streets at night to help street children and child refugees from the boats who have turned to prostitution and get them off the streets. Other children set out to try and travel to countries in Northern Europe, and are at considerable risk.

“Just imagine it, being a child, having a flee a war zone, travel unaccompanied, even, on a boat run by evil traffickers, a journey you know, has already claimed the lives of so many, to come to a promised land where you are reduced to prostitution to survive. Can you even begin to imagine the trauma and their heartache?”, said Ms Sheehan.

“It took time to find the right partner, as most of the missionary partners we work with are outside of Europe”, she explained. It is so important to work with the right people and know exactly where your aid is going to, and be sure that aid  is well used and not wasted. The Salesian community have the network and resources to distribute aid for a long time after they receive our shipment ; continuity is key” said Ms Sheehan.

Tuesday’s Child is asking people to donate aid items from a list requested following a needs assessment. A copy of the list is on the home page at www.tuesdayschild.ie.

The Good Ship Lollipop is scheduled to leave Belfast on 7th October 2015. The deadline for aid contributions is this Friday. Charities and other organisations are welcome to contribute. We have already received wonderful support from Road of Hope, Unison and a number of schools, churches and prayer groups and many good hearted people who have read about our appeal on Facebook.

Tuesday’s Child is looking forward to travelling with its precious cargo. “We have quite a challenge ahead, and it will really take all hands on deck”.

Tuesday’s Child is also receiving donations and gives 100 percent of monies raised plus gift aid.

Further information is available on the charity website at www.tuesdayschild.ie.
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Mob 07545 452362
Email orla@tuesdayschild.org.uk

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