S. African humanitarian organization made inroads into Mozambique cyclone rescue

JOHANNESBURG, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The South African humanitarian organization Gift of the Givers on Monday said they have with partners rescued about 2,100 People and attended to 250 People in Mozambique.

CEO Imtiaz Sooliman said their teams are still active in Mozambique's two devastated areas of Beira and Estaquina, focusing on search and rescue, medical relief and humanitarian aid.

"Search and rescue mainly by water, using our boats, the Gift of the Givers team together with the support of local farmers have rescued close to 2,100 People," said Sooliman, adding that many pockets of flooded areas still have People stuck on roofs and trees, and air rescue is the only option in the inaccessible areas.

"We ran a medical camp at Guaraguara for two days, seeing over 250 patients and providing life saving surgical procedures and medication," he said.

He said that currently the organization is helping rebuild infrastructure by repairing the only hospital in Beira. "Once done, the surgical operations can restart." he said.

Sooliman also revealed that they are mobilizing an additional specialized medical team which includes doctors, orthopaedic surgeon, gynecologists, pediatrician, dietitian and others.

Gift of the Givers is a leading disaster response NGO of African origin on the African continent. It is now working with the South African army, UN, local government in Mozambique and other organizations in disaster relief efforts.