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Polaroid Instant Images Reunite Young Flood Victims With Their Families in Mozambique Save the Children Uses Photos to Register Unaccompanied Children in Refugee Camps

Polaroid Instant Images Reunite Young Flood Victims With Their Families in Mozambique Save the Children Uses Photos to Register Unaccompanied Children in Refugee Camps

Published 03-10-00

Submitted by Polaroid Corporation

Save the Children workers in flood-ravaged Mozambique are using instant film and cameras, donated by Polaroid Corporation, to reunite hundreds of children with their families.

As the muddy, polluted waters recede in the wake of Mozambique's worst flooding in recent years, they are leaving behind many children separated from their families. But the wonder of instant photography holds promise for many of them.

"We started registering children at the Chiaquelane refugee camp this week," said Charles F. MacCormack, president of Save the Children in the United States. "We're taking Polaroid pictures of each child, coding the shots with serial numbers, and then circulating them in refugee camps, where relatives will hopefully see a familiar face. We've already had some success stories."

Gary T. DiCamillo, chairman and chief executive officer of Polaroid Corporation in Cambridge, Mass., said that Polaroid is pleased to be in a position to help. "People forget just how much magic our instant images hold. Not only is Polaroid technology helping bring these children back to their families, it's also giving many of them a first chance to see themselves on film."

"This donation came just at the right time, as we step up our family reunification efforts in the refugee camps," MacCormack said. Polaroid is giving Save the Children enough cameras and film to produce 3,000 instant photos of children.

Polaroid Corporation, with annual sales of approximately $2 billion, is the worldwide leader in instant imaging. Polaroid supplies instant photographic cameras and films; digital imaging hardware, software and media; secure identification systems; sunglasses and polarizers to markets worldwide. The company was recently cited by Business Ethics magazine as one of the 50 Best Corporate Citizens in the United States.

Save the Children, an international child assistance organization, has been working in Mozambique since 1988. Save the Children operates ongoing health, education and economic programs that benefit nearly 300,000 people in Gaza and Nampula provinces.

Save the Children is a nonprofit organization that works in 46 countries, including the United States. Its mission is to make lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need. Save the Children also is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a worldwide network of 26 independent Save the Children organizations working in more than 100 countries.

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