Humanitarian, Issue 24, First edition 2014

ISSUE 24 ‒­­­FIRST EDITION, 2014

1914­‒2014

100 years of people helping people

REUNITED AT LAST

After 13 years separated by war, Samuel finally speaks to his children

SAFETY ON THE LINE A phone call that saved a life

Do you have a Will to change lives?

In our centenary year, Australian Red Cross is asking you to be part of the great Australian story by helping us support people in crisis for the next 100 years. create or update a simple Will from $75.

Will please call us on 1800 811 700 or email bequests@redcross.org.au. Quote ref: LSPT

Call 1800 811 700 or email bequests@redcross.org.au

AP14HUM

The inside On 13 August 1914, Lady Munro Ferguson, the wife of the then Governor General, began the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society, nine days after the outbreak of World War I. Here we are, one hundred years later, and what a journey it has been! From those early years assisting the war-wounded, progressing to our work in social welfare, national emergencies and the blood service, and our focus today supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities: Red Cross has built a strong national organisation which is having a positive and lasting impact on social disadvantage.

The Centenary of Red Cross is a great Australian story about the extraordinary generosity and compassion of people helping people. Over the past year, we invited those who have helped or been helped by Red Cross to share their stories with us. The response has been phenomenal and stories have come in from across the country: from Kath, who recalls being supported by Red Cross after her home was destroyed in a devastating fire; branch member Faylie who door knocked as a nine-year-old to raise funds following the end of World War II, and Rhondda, daughter of a Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment and an army officer, who says, ‘If it weren’t for Australian Red Cross, I would never have been born’.

Read their inspiring stories and more on our Centenary website redcross.org.au/ centenary. You can also view our fascinating history in Australia, locate branches in your area and read information about local and national events, including World Red Cross Day (8 May) and our founding day (13 August). Activities will be held throughout the year, and we encourage you to visit the site to see how you can get involved.

A key event we celebrated last month was International Women’s Day on 8 March. On this day we launched a new video showcasing the invaluable work of Australian Red Cross called '100 years of women and war’. From World War II to Vietnam and Afghanistan, three generations of Red Cross women share their common story, a story which resonates with the many women who have served on the frontline with Red Cross. As a global organisation dedicated to ensuring there is lasting peace amongst all peoples, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement also has this special role to play in reducing suffering during times of armed conflict. Read more on page 15.

In this issue we also revisit the bushfire-affected communities of Molesworth and Sorrell in Tasmania (page 8) to see how they are recovering from the worst fires to hit the state in 40 years, and their preparation work to ensure they are ready to respond to future disasters.

Thank you for your ongoing support for Red Cross, and we hope you will join us throughout the year in celebrating a century of people helping people.

Michael Legge President Australian Red Cross

Contents The inside

1

News in brief

2

100 years of people helping people

4

Finding a men's place

6

Care when it counts

7

Someone to turn to

8

Finding hope

10

Partners in health

11

Fields of plenty

12

Leading the way to health

14

Women and war

15

Safety on the line

16

Saving lives

17

Humanitarian online Did you know you can read Humanitarian magazine on your desktop computer, smartphone or tablet device? The digital version of Humanitarian features all the content of the print version, plus bonus material including videos and digital exclusive stories. View the latest edition and subscribe online at redcross.org.au/humanitarian.aspx.

Look out for this icon in the magazine to see what stories have videos available online.

Robert Tickner CEO Australian Red Cross

Humanitarian 1

News in brief

In our 100th year of humanitarian service, World Red Cross Day on 8 May is an opportunity to celebrate our great Australian story of people helping people. World Red Cross Day is held around the world to commemorate the birthday of Red Cross Red Crescent founder Henri Dunant.

Today one million members, volunteers, donors, staff, blood donors and supporters continue Henri Dunant’s vision of relieving human suffering. They are united by a spirit of volunteerism and commitment to Red Cross’

humanitarian values. On World Red Cross Day we will celebrate this spirit in a wide variety of ways, from events in local communities to major functions at parliament houses around the nation.

Share your part of the great Australian story this World Red Cross Day by telling us about your personal connection with Red Cross. Visit the Centenary Story Collection at redcross.org.au/centenary or email centenarystories@redcross.org.au.

Centenary website This year, Red Cross in Australia celebrates 100 years of people helping people. Our Centenary represents a major achievement for Red Cross, and a significant milestone in the social history of Australia. A new Centenary digital hub was launched in January at redcross.org.au/centenary, which gives users access to all things Centenary: a historic timeline, a collection of stories submitted from people who have a connection with Red Cross, an interactive map of Australia which shows geographical locations where Red Cross has a current presence, and an events section highlighting upcoming local and national events.

Visit redcross.org.au/centenary to find out more.

2 Humanitarian

Australian Red Cross/Renae Droop

Celebrating World Red Cross Day

Red Cross Calling

Australian Red Cross / Archives

March marked the 65th year of our annual fundraising campaign Red Cross Calling. Members, volunteers and supporters took to the streets to help raise much needed funds for our work supporting vulnerable people in our communities – from doorknocking, public coin collections at major intersections, shopping centres and train stations, to BBQs, cake stalls, and morning and afternoon tea functions. Schools around the country also got involved on National Schools Participation Day (14 March), working with their local Red Cross branch to coordinate large CBD collections. Money raised will go towards our everyday work, from providing a daily phone call to check on the wellbeing of elderly and isolated Australians, to building strong partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Islander communities.

Australian Red Cross

Early Red Cross fundraisers in Victoria.

The Mexico conference builds on resolutions made at the Statutory Meetings in Sydney last year (pictured: Australian Red Cross President Michael Legge, CEO Robert Tickner and Deputy President Ross Pinney), to work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons around the world.

Mexico conference Australian Red Cross has been pushing to remove the threat of nuclear weapons on a global stage since November 2011, when we raised the issue in Geneva and helped develop the international Red Cross Red Crescent Movement’s resolution for ‘Working towards the elimination of nuclear weapons’.

After international government discussions in Oslo last year, an important next step was made in February when the world community again gathered in Nayarit, Mexico. This was only the second ever government conference on the humanitarian

impact of nuclear weapons, and Australian Red Cross CEO Robert Tickner was there to co-present a statement on behalf of the Movement, urging “governments to have courageous leadership and to drive this issue forward in a constructive and tangible manner”.

The conference called for the creation of a legally binding instrument and a timeframe to work towards disarmament, goals which will hopefully be realised at the next round of meetings to be held in Austria.

Humanitarian 3

100 years of people helping people The Centenary of Red Cross in Australia is a journey shared with generations of Australians. From the first meeting of the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society in 1914, just days after the outbreak of World War I, to becoming Australia’s largest charitable organisation by World War II, and to our work today working with the most vulnerable people in our communities, our Centenary has been a great Australian story right across the country.

1914­­–1920 Beginnings

Lady Helen Munro Ferguson arrives in Australia in May 1914 with her husband, the newly-appointed Governor General. After the First World War erupts, Lady Helen uses her experience in the British Red Cross Society to form a Red Cross branch in Australia in August 1914. The women of Red Cross soon set to work making clothes, sending supplies to soldiers and caring for the wounded. In 1919 the Anzac Hostel is founded in Brighton, Victoria, and nursing volunteers from the local Red Cross branch help care for injured servicemen (pictured).

1960s­­–70s Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, Australian Red Cross provides support to both soldiers and civilians. Winifred Skelly (pictured) volunteers in Vietnam to teach health and hygiene to local communities and distribute goods to malnourished children in the refugee camps and orphanages.

4 Humanitarian

1920­­–30s

Growing stronger Red Cross in Australia moves from war relief into general disaster relief and various support services for civilians. Australian Red Cross is formally recognised as a National Society in 1927 and in 1929, the Blood Transfusion Service is founded in Victoria. Their innovations in blood storage prove vital as war approaches.

1974

1975­­–80s

When Cyclone Tracy hits Darwin on Christmas morning 1974, Red Cross volunteers in Sydney escort injured evacuees from the airport to hospitals, while the branches in Tennant Creek, Katherine and Alice Springs assist thousands of refugees who travel south. From on-site volunteers who bring aluminium food containers to affected areas (pictured) to the fundraising effort across Australia, Red Cross comes together nationally to support Darwin.

Following the 1975 Indonesian invasion of Timor Leste, Australian Red Cross prepares to send supplies overseas and aids 3,000 refugees who arrive in Darwin. As the conflict continues, Red Cross expands work providing services for refugees of all backgrounds, giving general goods such as clothing, and supplying medical personnel and equipment. From 1975 to 1987, more than 10,000 refugees from places such as Indochina, eastern Europe, Laos, Cambodia and El Salvador are met by Red Cross volunteers.

Cyclone Tracy

Receiving refugees

1939­­–45

World War II Red Cross rises to become the largest charitable organisation in Australia during the Second World War. As they had 25 years previously, Red Cross women without medical qualifications register as voluntary aides to work as nursing orderlies and general assistants in military hospitals.

1945­­–50s

1950s­­–60s

Red Cross continues to support ex-servicemen and women through repatriation services, including teaching new skills such as carpentry, typing and basket-weaving. Hospital visits are another key part of the social welfare service area, with thousands of volunteers visiting veterans of wars around the world.

Rural and local branches work as community organisations to provide services such as residential homes for children and the disabled, medical equipment loans and transport. The first Red Cross Calling fundraising appeals are held in the early 1950s, raising money to support our work with vulnerable people.

Post-war

Mid-century

1980s­­–90s

Championing international humanitarian law With the 1989 fall of the Soviet Union and emerging humanitarian crises in Yugoslavia, Somalia and Rwanda, Red Cross’ dissemination of the principles of international humanitarian law becomes more important than ever. Noreen Minogue (pictured) was a driving force in promoting IHL within Australian Red Cross, joining the Australian Government delegation to a conference on the Geneva Conventions.

2000s

Disaster relief Australian Red Cross enters a new century as a beacon of relief and support, raising funds and providing on-ground assistance in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombing, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and closer to home, after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires (pictured). We help to raise more than $379 million for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal 2009 and send more than 1,000 volunteers and staff to affected areas, with recovery work still ongoing today.

Humanitarian 5

Finding

a men’s place

By Kerry Klimm

Kelvin Morrison attending a RespectED workshop at the Barkly Region Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Group Centre.

6 Humanitarian

Through the invitation and support of local Aboriginal residents, this town was one of three in which Red Cross began delivering RespectED, a prevention education and capacity-building program developed by Canadian Red Cross to address violence and abuse.

The program places importance on asking permission before entering a community, respecting protocols and implementing local solutions driven by local people.

In Tennant Creek, RespectED is addressing issues faced by men spending time in the Barkly Region Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Group Centre.

Phil Allen, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander national coordinator for youth, families and communities, says RespectED gives participants the opportunity to tell their story and builds on their strengths and that of the community. “It gives them a voice, which has been taken away from them… to show how violence in community is not our way… how a community based approach is going to go about changing this violence.”

Kelvin Morrison, who lives 80 kilometres south of Tennant Creek in Kalinjarri, says the program changed his outlook on life. “I found it interesting. Started realising drinking and all that violence was getting me to a place that I didn’t need to be. Red Cross helps me show respect to myself and others around me, and also my children,” he says.

After leaving the centre, Kelvin has goals to pursue a professional AFL career and educate his children in both modern and traditional ways. “As they get older, I’ll take them back to where I come from. I’ll take them out and tell them their grandfather’s stories,” he says.

“Now I’m not just looking at the mistakes I made. I’m looking at what I can do.”

Australian Red Cross/EJ Garrett

In the middle of the Northern Territory sits Tennant Creek – a town of great diversity – with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents from 11 language groups making up nearly half of the population of 3,500.

Care when it counts

Australian Red Cross/Joe Cropp

By Joe Cropp

Vince and Margaret appreciated the care they received from Red Cross volunteers when they lost their home to bushfires last year.

The home where Vince and Margaret Sibbald brought up six children and watched 14 grandchildren take their first steps was destroyed in minutes when bushfires spread through the Blue Mountains in NSW. When bushfires struck the town of Winmalee last October, Vince and Margaret walked outside their home to see smoke in the distance. Less than 45 minutes later, their house was gone.

“The winds were incredible,” Vince says. “Suddenly the fire was at the back fence and we were getting out of there.”

The couple recall grabbing medication and insurance papers as they rushed out the door, and giving the keys of their spare car to a neighbour to help them evacuate because ‘that’s what you do’. That first night they stayed with their son before going to the evacuation centre in Springwood to register with Red Cross.

“We were shown so much care by the people of Red Cross,” Margaret says. “When you feel so devastated, to be cared for like that means so much. Sometimes you just

need a hug and someone to talk to. All the volunteers in the centre really connected with us; this sense of support, sense of community was so important.”

Red Cross volunteers not only provide emotional and practical assistance to people during emergencies, but also support communities during the long and often emotional journey to recovery: visiting homes, attending events and supporting community activities to provide emotional support, information and referrals to recovery services.

By making a tax-deductible donation to Red Cross before 30 June, you can help ensure that we can continue being there for people like Vince and Margaret, and the many thousands of people doing it tough in Australia and further afield.

To donate to the Doing It Tough Appeal, visit redcross.org.au or call 1800 811 700.

Humanitarian 7

Someone to turn to

By Anna Zelenko

More than a year after the devastating fires swept across southeast Tasmania, Red Cross volunteers continue to support the affected communities in the long road to recovery.

More than 200 homes were lost and many others damaged in the bushfires that struck Tasmania in early 2013. Immediately after the fires, more than 150 Red Cross staff and volunteers provided support in evacuation centres, helping 3,000 people affected. A year later, Red Cross is still there for the Tasman Peninsula, Molesworth and Collinsvale communities as they recover.

One Red Cross volunteer, Frank Mamo, drove for more than three hours each day to provide recovery information and resources to those affected. He remembers greeting people as they walked through the door of the recovery hub in Sorell. “Many people were bewildered, going around in a daze, without direction, asking ‘What do I do?’” Frank says.

“We listened in an empathetic way, we let them talk. They calmly start talking about one thing and then they know they can trust you and start opening up.”

In the months after the fires, Frank and other trained 8 Humanitarian

volunteers provided children with donated toys and recovery resources like the Red Cross ‘After the Emergency’ colouring book to help them cope with their feelings after the fires.

Frank also offered parents emotional and practical support including recovery tips, referrals to recovery services and information about the Tasmanian Bushfires 2013 Appeal that Red Cross launched in partnership with the Tasmanian government.

“Money wasn’t wasted – funds went directly to the fire affected people,” says Frank. “Nobody I knew got money that they didn’t deserve. It was used for what it was intended for: to start the rebuilding process.”

As the bushfires were the worst Tasmania has experienced in over 40 years, the impact was felt across the state.

Almost 50 kilometres west of Sorell, the small semi-rural community of Molesworth had a narrow escape. Red Cross helped the Molesworth Primary School to organise a recovery

Left: Rebecca Newton (right), Red Cross Recovery Coordinator in Tasmania, talks to Kiara (centre) and her best friend about their experience after the bushfires.

Australian Red Cross/Rodney Dekker

Below: Frank Mamo provided practical information to people affected by the bushfires in January 2013.

and preparedness day. More than 230 people attended the event where the students presented bushfire preparedness training.

Leading up to the event, Red Cross staff and volunteers helped the children to develop workshops on first aid, operating fire pumps, evacuating pets during an emergency and planting a fire-resistant garden. Eleven-year-old Colby was one of the students involved. “[Before the bushfires], we didn’t have a plan,” he says. After working with his classmates, local fire service and Red Cross to organise the workshops, Colby now feels more secure. “You’ll know what to do instead of being a sitting duck, panicking.”

Molesworth Primary School Principal, Jill Armstrong, was also concerned about the psychological impact of the fires on the children. At her request, Red Cross Recovery Coordinator Rebecca Newton visited the school and provided the teachers with the recovery lesson plans, a

teaching resource that was developed by Red Cross in partnership with educators.

The children appreciated using drawing and games in the lesson plans to work through their feelings after the fires.

"Doing exercises at school helped. Knowing that other people in our class have been through it; it helped," says student Kiara. Her classmate Jacob agrees. "It helps to talk to my class,” he says. “I like getting it off my chest."

After the recovery lesson plans and preparedness day, Jill feels that the Molesworth community is better equipped to respond to and recover from emergencies in the future.

“The community is better educated and better prepared, no doubt about it,” she says. “You need services like Red Cross you can turn to and lean on.”

To ensure that Red Cross relief and recovery work can continue, donate by calling 1800 811 700 or visiting redcross.org.au.

Humanitarian 9

By Anna Zelenko

In January 1999, Samuel kissed his two children goodbye and went to work in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He would not speak to his children again for the next 13 years.

When violence erupted throughout the city of Freetown, Samuel couldn’t get home to his children.

“All my thoughts were about my kids,” Samuel says.

Separated from their mother at an early age due to the decade-long civil war, four-year-old Jamille* and five-year-old Dalia* were dependent on Samuel as their sole parent.

The peace agreement declared one year before in war-torn Sierra Leone was shattered as rebels attacked the city and the hospital where Samuel was working. He travelled to a refugee camp in nearby Ghana, hoping to use its communication networks to reach his family.

For the next nine years Samuel was able to receive intermittent news about his children from a friend back home, but when they lost contact he had no way of knowing if they were still alive. Samuel felt devastated and incomplete.

“People suffer so much pain by being separated from families,” he says. After receiving a visa under the Australian Humanitarian Program, he contacted the Red Cross International Tracing Service in 2012.

10 Humanitarian

“My hope was that they locate my kids. I hoped but I didn’t expect it.”

Australian Red Cross is part of a global network of more than 180 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world, putting us in a unique position to locate people who are missing due to war, conflict, disaster or migration.

After working closely with Sierra Leone Red Cross, the Australian Red Cross tracing team called Samuel two months later with good news: “We located your kids. They are happy.”

That night, Dalia and Jamille, now 17 and 16, spoke to their father for the first time in 13 years.

Samuel is now in regular contact with his children and is doing everything he can to be reunited with them.

“I came to Red Cross and they helped me. I would say, whoever donates, that the person doesn’t think that it goes in vain. It is for a good purpose.”

You can find out more about our tracing services and work supporting vulnerable migrants at redcross.org.au. [*Names changed to protect the privacy of the individuals.]

Australian Red Cross/Rodney Dekker

Finding hope

Partners in health

Nan loves having breakfast at the Red Cross Breakfast Club at Coober Pedy.

Mel pulls out boxes of cereal from the cupboards to set up the Breakfast Club at Coober Pedy Area School in outback South Australia. Her eightyear-old daughter Bethany eagerly helps, for soon a bus load of hungry children will arrive to devour their favourite breakfast foods.

Mel has been volunteering at the Breakfast Club for only a short while, but as a mum of a child at the school in a closeknit community, she has already noticed the difference the club is making.

“There has been a marked improvement in children's behaviour in class. Having full bellies helps them concentrate,” says Mel. Red Cross Good Start Breakfast Clubs have been running in Australia for 23 years, and with approximately 190 Breakfast Clubs around the country, it is vital that Red Cross has ongoing support to maintain the clubs.

A significant partnership to achieve this is with Sanitarium, and during the 10-year partnership they have donated $1 million to support the work of Red Cross donated breakfast to school children who would otherwise go hungry. Recently they profiled a selection of Breakfast Clubs on the back of their Weet-Bix cereal boxes, including the Coober Pedy Area School.

Nan, who comes to the club every morning, was one of the smiling faces on the Weet-Bix boxes. Her grandmother Beverley says that Nan loves the Breakfast Club, and has been very excited to be featured. “She's been telling her friends and family about it,” says Beverley with pride.

Australian mining company IMX Resources, which has a mine site near the town of Coober Pedy, has also been a key business partner with Red Cross, contributing $10,000 to the Breakfast Club and other Red Cross food security initiatives that work with parents and students to adopt healthier lifestyles.

The Coober Pedy Good Start Breakfast Club demonstrates how together, Red Cross, students, teachers, community members and businesses can improve the lives and opportunities of young children, giving them a healthy start not only to their school day, but to their lives.

Visit redcross.org.au and search ‘business partnerships’ to see how your organisation can partner with Red Cross.

Humanitarian 11

Australian Red Cross/Katie Isaac

By Katie Isaac

Maize is a household staple in Kenya, and for the first time, Harrison has grown more than he needs.

12 Humanitarian

Fields of plenty

By Zayne D’Crus

Australian Red Cross/Drew Weatherstone

Villagers and volunteers in Kenya have transformed acres of arid scrubland into a farm that feeds an entire community.

Turn a corner in Kenya’s dry Magarini District, and thorns suddenly give way to fruit. Papayas and mangoes hang from young trees, while runner beans sprout on creeping vines and acres of maize wave gently in the warm afternoon breeze. It’s an oasis of plenty, surrounded by thorn bushes and arid soil.

It wasn’t always this way. “Before the coming of Red Cross, everything was totally bad,” says Harrison Mrimi of Gandini village. “Just to get food was very complicated. We were just waiting for the rain from god, and we suffered a lot. Our children were chased from school by the teachers because we had no money for fees.”

Gandini’s plight is not unusual.

Three devastating droughts in 10 years, combined with declining crop yields and inefficient food distribution systems, have left Kenya one of the most food-insecure nations in the world.

Kenya Red Cross Society is working to improve food security, drawing on the resilience of Kenyan communities and the commitment of its young volunteers. Two years ago, the Red Cross branch in Malindi began working intensively with Gandini villagers, to help them transition from emergency food aid to sustainable farming.

“There was fertile land in Gandini but it was unused, untapped,” says branch coordinator Hassan Musa.

“Our intention was to empower farmers to produce food for themselves and for sale.”

Knowledge and its transfer were critical for success. Peter Newbigin, an Australian Volunteer for International Development, was recruited to train local Red Cross volunteers in horticulture and project management skills. Starting at the Malindi branch, they constructed model greenhouses, cultivated fruit and vegetables using organic gardening techniques, and drafted project proposals to bring in funds for seeds and equipment.

Equipped with knowledge, young Red Cross volunteers worked side by side with Gandini villagers to transform their land. It took five months of brutal physical labour and additional support from local government, just to clear the thornbushes and dense undergrowth.

Together they ploughed the soil, laid irrigation pipes connecting the fields to a nearby river, planted maize and fruit trees, and installed greenhouses.

Young volunteer Phina Gikinju spent a year and a half working on the project. She lived in Gandini for three months: mobilising the community, facilitating training in farming skills and equipment maintenance, and ensuring the project stayed on schedule. It was a commitment the 21-year-old was proud to make.

“Being a volunteer is about who you are, the humanity in you,” she says.

Eighteen months after spades touched soil, the fields of Gandini have yielded 38,560kg of maize — a staple food in Kenya — as well as 555kg of cowpeas, fruit ranging from tomatoes to watermelons, and a bumper crop of vegetables. Farmers are selling their excess produce in local markets and, encouraged by their success, expanding into new ventures such as fish farming.

Peter, who returned to Kenya with Finnish Red Cross after his volunteer assignment, describes the rapid transformation as ‘mind-blowing’.

“I saw evidence of people taking ideas and creating new opportunities and applications with them,” he says.

“I saw massive challenges overcome in terms of logistics, mobilising communities and managing resources.

Red Cross has delivered food security to an area that has gone through at least four consecutive seasons of crop failure.”

For Harrison Mrimi and his six children, life has never been better.

“After the project with Red Cross, we can take [the children] to school. We are eating well, so we say life is good here now. It is very, very good.”

Where could volunteering take you? Visit redcross.org.au/ volunteeroverseas to find out.

Humanitarian 13

Leading the way to health

Australian Red Cross/Madeline Wilson

By Madeline Wilson and Antony Balmain

Women across Afghanistan are being trained in community-based health care for the first time, with life-saving results.

Some of Afghanistan’s leading female doctors are paving the way to improve the health and wellbeing of millions of people across the country.

Dr Naheed is one of dozens of doctors dedicating her life to work with Afghan Red Crescent. She says it is “groundbreaking” that she and other female leaders are being trained in community based health, hygiene, reproductive health and first aid.

One in five deaths among women in Afghanistan is a result of pregnancy and childbirth — according to the Afghanistan Mortality Survey — and almost all of these deaths are preventable. Additionally, sixty per cent of child deaths are caused by diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and illnesses that can be prevented by vaccination.

Working with Dr Naheed is Dr Tamin, a doctor with one of the 17 mobile health teams, providing health care to thousands of patients in some of the most remote villages around the country. It is not uncommon for Dr Tamin and 14 Humanitarian

his team — which includes a pharmacist and a nurse — to have close to 50 women and children queued up for a consultation. Despite the hardships of spending most of the month on the road, Dr Tamin says his job is incredibly rewarding.

“When I see a patient who we have helped get better and they are healthy and smiling, this is the best part of the job.”

Dr Naheed has a similar view, saying that she is witnessing change in the country’s health infrastructure.

“The women I work with say to me, ‘we were like blind people and now you light the way for us and show us the road ahead.’ They respect us. Sometimes they kiss my hands in gratitude.”

To find out more about Red Cross international health and nutrition work, visit redcross.org.au.

Australian Red Cross/Archives

Women and war From World War II to Vietnam and Afghanistan, women have served on the front line with Red Cross. Three generations of Red Cross women share a common story.

“You need to be resilient, you need to have unrelenting faith in humanity. You need hope, and you need to be 100 per cent neutral and impartial,” explains Jessica Hazelwood, talking about her work as a Red Cross nurse in Afghanistan.

These are words that echo across three generations of Red Cross women who have served in conflict zones during wartime.

“By the end of World War II, Australian Red Cross had developed its Field Force,” explains Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, author of the book Women and War. “That’s where you get people like Maureen White – typical young Australian women who wanted to do something actively for the war.”

Maureen was one of almost 200 Australian women who served overseas during World War II as part of Red Cross’ Field Force. Based in the Pacific and then Japan, she provided support to prisoners of war returning home from the Japanese camps.

“They were very sick men,” she explains. “Too ill to go any further until we built them up.”

In Vietnam a generation later, Red Cross Field Force officers were the first Australian women to serve in the conflict, mainly working in hospitals.

Ex-Field Force officer Marie Boyle recalls how the war came

close to the hospital where she worked, and how the sounds of the explosions and gunfire blasted around them.

The injuries she witnessed in the hospital are “embedded in her memory”.

Nurse Jessica Hazelwood, who worked with the Internatonal Committee of the Red Cross in war-torn Kandahar, also carries the memories. “You can’t unsee all the things you’ve witnessed,” she says.

“The conflict didn’t bother me, the guns didn’t bother me, hearing bombs every night didn’t bother me. I wasn’t prepared for the amount of suffering. I didn’t think there could be that much suffering in the one place.”

But despite these memories, all three would do it again.

“We don’t live in an equal world and until we can improve the situation, I’ll keep going back,” says Jessica.

As Professor Oppenheimer explains: “The roles might have changed over the generations, but the reason behind the work and the character of the women continues.”

You can watch the video showcasing Maureen, Marie and Jessica’s story on our YouTube channel.

You can also read the personal stories of the many Red Cross members and volunteers who have been involved in helping the war-wounded over the past 100 years at redcross.org.au/centenary.

Humanitarian 15

Safety on the line Betty loves living independently in her home surrounded by rainforest, and a daily call from Red Cross gives her confidence that someone will regularly check on her wellbeing.

When 88-year-old Betty suffered severe vomiting and internal bleeding, there was no one nearby and she was unable to call for help. But she knew assistance would arrive as soon as her phone rang, even though she couldn’t get up to answer it.

Betty has lived alone since her husband passed away, and although she sometimes gets lonely, she loves her independence and being surrounded by lush rainforest, trees and birds. But on the morning of her illness, Betty’s isolation meant she could have been in real trouble.

“I had this dreadful diarrhoea, vomiting, bleeding and I was sitting on a chair in the bathroom and I was semi-conscious,” Betty explains. “I just sat tight and dozed and, you know, cried a lot. This was when I really felt alone.”

Last year in Australia around 600 elderly or isolated people like Betty received daily phone calls from Red Cross to check on their wellbeing. When Betty didn’t pick up the phone that morning, the Red Cross volunteer tried twice more at 10-minute intervals. When Betty still didn’t answer, Red Cross got in touch with Betty’s emergency contact, Christine, who called an ambulance after going to check up on her.

Christine says Betty was very unwell and would not have 16 Humanitarian

coped much longer, let alone the several days it may have taken for someone else to take notice.

“It could have been nearly four or five days, you don’t know,” says Christine. “When we found her she was shallow breathing, she was not in a good state at all.”

Each year Red Cross helps hundreds of people who are ill or injured and do not answer their Telecross phone call.

Thousands more are supported to live independently in the familiarity of their own home, knowing that if something should happen, Red Cross will send someone to check on them.

“I rely on that phone call and, as you well know, it probably saved my life on that particular occasion,” says Betty. “I’m always glad to hear the phone ring!”

You can help Red Cross continue supporting elderly and isolated Australians like Betty by giving a monthly donation at redcross.org.au or by calling 1800 811 700.

Australian Red Cross/Renae Droop

By Alice Crowley

Saving lives

Alana Phillips

for her birthday

Alana Phillips (right) with friend Kirstie Schulz celebrate at the blood donor centre.

Nurse Alana Phillips recently asked 28 friends for a very special gift for her 28th birthday: a life-saving blood donation to help people she might never meet.

The Maroochydore Blood Donor Centre hosted a birthday party for Alana and her friends, who instead of giving a gift directly to Alana chose to give a blood donation for each one of her 28 years. As a registered nurse at the Nambour Hospital Cancer Care Services Department, Alana sees the need for blood on a daily basis, but she is unable to donate herself.

“I know and understand how important blood is in the treatment of cancer patients, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday than by spending time with my friends whilst they are saving the lives of others,” Alana says.

Alana’s wish of 28 donations was exceeded, with an amazing 36 donations made in her honour. All donations were made on behalf of Team Adem, a Club Red group set up in memory of Buderim resident Adem Crosby, who died of leukaemia in 2013 at the age of 19.

For more information on donating as a group, visit donateblood.com.au/clubred.

Contact your local Red Cross office for more information National Office 155 Pelham Street, Carlton VIC 3053 T +61 3 9345 1800 F +61 3 9348 2513 redcross.org.au

NT Cnr Lambell Terrace and Schultz Street, Larrakeyah NT 0820 T 08 8924 3900 F 08 8924 3909

Supporter Services Centre T 1800 811 700 F 1800 855 240

QLD 49 Park Road, Milton QLD 4064 T 07 3367 7222 F 07 3367 7444

ACT Red Cross House 3 Dann Close Garran ACT 2605 T 02 6234 7600 F 02 6234 7650 NSW St Andrew’s House Level 4, 464 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 T 02 9229 4111 F 02 9229 4244

SA 212 Pirie Street, Adelaide SA 5000 T 08 8100 4500 F 08 8100 4501

TAS 40 Melville Street, Hobart TAS 7000 T 03 6235 6077 F 03 6231 1250

Managing editor Phil Brown

VIC 23-47 Villiers Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051 T 03 8327 7700 F 03 8327 7711

Designer Timothy Hartridge

WA 110 Goderich Street, East Perth WA 6004 T 08 9225 8888 F 08 9325 5112

Editor Carmel Markus

Sub-editor (Volunteer) Alyssa Robinson Cover image Australian Red Cross/ Archives

Let us know what you think Send us your feedback to publications@redcross.org.au Humanitarian 17

Help those doing it tough Donate before June 30

redcross.org.au 1800 811 700