SOS provides emergency assistance to families living near its Children's Villages.

October 8, 2009: Week-long flooding caused by severe rains in southern India have killed 250 people and left 2.5 million residents without homes. The states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have been most heavily affected. 5 million people who were housed in more than a thousand temporary camps have begun to return to what remains of their homes.

Government relief workers dropped off food and plastic sheets via helicopters and boats to trapped families in the two affected states.

The latest inundations are "the worst floods in a hundred years," according to Andhra Pradesh's minister for revenue and relief, as quoted by Reuters. Large tracts of sugarcane, corn, and rice fields have been deluged by rain. Karnataka is India's third biggest sugar producer. The crop damage is prompting great concern about the disaster's effect on food output.

SOS Children's Villages in India to Protect Vulnerable Children and Families

India is no stranger to natural disasters, but each tragedy takes an enormous toll on the nation's most vulnerable population -- its children. SOS Children's Villages, a worldwide charity that provides loving homes to abandoned children, runs 39 Children's Villages in India.

On site in India for four decades, SOS rescues children from lives of hunger and despair. It also provides emergency assistance to families living near its Children's Villages. During disasters such as floods and earthquakes, SOS shelters children and distributes food to families who have lost everything. It sometimes builds new homes. SOS also operates art programs to help traumatized children feel hope again.

Years of Experience at the Local Level

Boys pose for a photo in an SOS Children's Village in India

SOS Children's Villages in India are located in every corner of the country. Many of them began as the result of temporary emergency relief efforts in a particular locality. India is a huge country with much regional diversity. Through years of experience and the ability to hire and train local SOS staff and mothers, SOS is well-positioned to help meet local needs.

Beyond serving the children in its Villages, SOS also builds and runs kindergartens, schools, vocational training centers, clinics, and family counseling services.

Help a child in India who would otherwise be lost to society find a new life of love, hope, and promise. Sponsor an SOS child today.