DUTCH EVACUEES

Evening Star, Issue 25684, 7 January 1946, Page 4

DUTCH EVACUEES

GAMP AT TOMAHAWK PROVISION FOR FORTY CHILDREN . With the arrival of a caretaker at the military camp at Tomahawk, the Netherlands Indies Welfare Organisation for Evacuees from the Dutch East Indies officially took over its first , establishment in Dunedin to-day. Negotiations are under way for other properties to accommodate some 250 Dutch evacuees in and round Dunedin. The Tomahawk camp is to be used to house some 40 Dutch children, together with the necessary number of adults to look after them. It is felt that the children will benefit more from these surroundings than if they were established in the town. Their ages range from four years upwards. Many of them are orphans. All of them have gone through indescribable hardships and horrors during the last four years. A team of workmen employed by the organisation will soon bo putting the camp into first-class condition ready for the early arrival of the evacuees. The Army recreation hut is fo be used ns a large play room. Ping pong tables, other games, and a radio are to he installed for the entertainment of the children. The aim of the organisation is to get the evacuees fit and normal again, and emphasis has been placed on. medical and dental supervision. Until Dutch doctors arrive, well versed in tropical ailments; local medical . practitioners and dentists will undertake the work.