DELIVERY OF DONATIONS FROM AYO'S STELA CONTINUES

• The 50th Contingent of the 'Orion' Detachment of 'Operation Atalanta' delivers donated material to different centers in Djibouti.

Personnel belonging to the 50th Contingent have delivered part of the equipment that the association 'La Estela de Ayo', in collaboration with the Ladies of Loreto of Lanzarote, has sent to the contingent's operating zone. There is now few products left to distribute from the more than 3 tons that the association moved to the Operations Zone to help the neediest population of Djibouti and it is being distributed among different associations and aid centers.

In this case, the beneficiaries have been the "Poupponiere Daryel" orphanage, which cares for more than 100 orphaned children, and the "Solidarité Féménine" association, whose center supports women with HIV and their children. Both centers have expressed their gratitude for the delivery of the supplies, which will undoubtedly help to improve the unfavorable situation in which many Djiboutian children and women are living. Thus, the CIMIC (Civil-Military Cooperation) work continues, through which Spain aids those countries in which our military personnel are carrying out the missions for which they are deployed.

The association "La Estela de Ayo" was created after the death of Major 'Ayo' Garvalena, Air Force fighter pilot, in a plane crash while on a training flight in 2020. The association aims to continue the legacy of solidarity, commitment and aid to the most disadvantaged populations and communities that the commander carried out in the places he visited while on missions abroad, including Djibouti, where he was stationed in 2018.

Collaboration with this charitable organization is frequent and allows the Spanish contingent, during its participation in Atalanta Operation, to carry out integration projects with the Djiboutian society, while at the same time it helps to cover the most basic needs of the local population.