Worldwide Wednesday Wrap-Up

Welcome to the Worldwide Wednesday Wrap-Up, in which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It's a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work...

AFGHANISTAN: Over the last couple of weeks, the Afghan Red Crescent Society, with the support of the IFRC, has helped almost 2,000 families in Kabul through the coldest winter for 15 years by distributing blankets and clothes. Hundreds of people have been returning to Kabul from Pakistan and conflict affected areas, setting up in makeshift unheated tents.

HAITI: More than two years after a devastating earthquake demolished thousands of homes in Haiti, up to half a million vulnerable people are estimated to still be living in camps. A majority of these were renters before the quake and with limited income generating activities available many people have no way of affording their rent now. To support people to leave the camps the IFRC is providing resettlement grants with a series of different options for families to choose from, such as receiving rental support or moving assistance.

SENEGAL: In the run up to elections in Senegal, social unrest gripped areas of the nation and put the Senegalese Red Cross on stand-by with 98 rapid response teams comprised of 686 first-aid volunteers. 153 people were assisted during pre-election demonstrations, mostly for minor injuries with 44 sent to local hospitals for further attention.

CYPRUS: During a meeting last week the ICRC decided to recognize the Cyprus Red Cross Society as the 188th National Society. In accordance with the Cyprus Red Cross Law of 1967, it acts as an auxiliary to the national authorities of the Republic of Cyprus in the humanitarian field and plays a central role in disaster preparedness and disaster response.


GLOSSARY:

ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

PHOTO:
Afghan Red Crescent Society distributed clothes and blankets to almost vulnerable and snow affected families in Kabul

Scientific and Humanitarian Lessons from The Haiti and Japan Earthquakes

Our friends (and partners) at OMSI have piqued our collective Red Cross interest again with February 22nd's Science Pub Portland topic! "Scientific and Humanitarian Lessons from The Haiti and Japan Earthquakes" promises to be an elucidating and relevant lecture, held in the comfort of the Mission Theatre.  For more information and the address, visit: http://www.omsi.edu/node/1007. 

Grab a drink and a snack and get ready for a discussion about the scientific processes that led to these disasters as well as an overview of the overwhelming global humanitarian response. 
Dr. Wayne Pennington will also discuss how lack of public awarenesss or disaster preparedness magnified the Haitian earthquake's and Japanese tsunami's effects - and how this danger lurks globally for ill-prepared areas. 

Pretty relevant stuff, given that we are due for an enormous earthquake and ensuing tsunami in our little corner of the world! 
Red Cross also has a wealth of information on disaster preparedness; you can visit oregonredcross.org to learn about preparedness, schedule a class or presentation, buy safety products and print materials, and learn about blood donation.  As always, we love to remind you to "Be prepared for anything!" 

Photo courtesy of mcmenamins.com

Without the Red Cross, We Would Have Been Lost

In recognition of the 2nd anniversary of the Haitian earthquake, we've excerpted this powerful piece that was posted on January 10th, 2012 by Kristiana Almeida on the American Red Cross Blog. It originally came from New York’s “Changing Lives: The Story Book” Blog.

Volunteers come from many walks of life. For some, it is a chance to give back to their communities. For Francklin Morose, a volunteer with the American Red Cross on Long Island, it’s much deeper than that— as his journey began with the world literally crumbling at his feet.

Morose was at his accounting job in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 12, 2010—the day of the worst earthquake in the island nation’s history.

It began with a simple shake he recalled. He and his colleagues thought a big truck had driven by.
“Then,” he said, “everything started to fall down—the walls, the ceiling.”

With all the entrances blocked, Morose and his colleagues were forced to jump to the ground from a second story bathroom window. That’s when they realized an earthquake had struck.

“The whole block was dark; everything had changed,” Morose said.

He described buildings destroyed; communications disrupted; trees down; and people who were bloodied and bruised running through the streets. He made his way home and found it destroyed.

That night, Morose located his family in a park, among hundreds of others that had lost their homes.

Read more at “Changing Lives: The Story Book” Blog.

How the Red Cross is Helping

"Since January 2010, Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross have joined together to bring lasting change to families in Haiti. Today, many families left homeless by the earthquake have a safe and decent place to call home because of the commitment and hard work of our local teams. I wish to thank the American Red Cross for their partnership in bringing housing and hope to the people of Haiti." - Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer, Habitat for Humanity.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the American Red Cross is still at work in Haiti, rebuilding what the earthquake destroyed and working with local communities to make them safer and healthier. We have built homes, given people opportunities to earn money, provided access to clean water and sanitation systems, supported the delivery of health care, and taught communities how to prevent the spread of diseases and to be better prepared for future disasters. While our plans may evolve to respond to changing needs, in the coming years we will continue to help people leave camps to return to communities, and we will work to make these communities safe, healthy and vibrant.Learn more about the Red Cross response in Haiti.

Learn more about the Red Cross response.

2011 Year in Pictures from the American Red Cross

From responding to record-breaking tornadoes, to rebuilding in Haiti, to teaching lifesaving skills to 11,000 people on Gabrielle Giffords Honorary Save-a-Life Saturday, 2011 has been a busy year for the American Red Cross, as seen in these photos.

Worldwide Wednesday Wrap-Up

Welcome to the Worldwide Wednesday Wrap-Up, in which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It's a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work...

PHILIPPINES: Last week tropical storm Washi swept through entire villages in several areas of the Philippines, causing the deaths of an estimated nearly 1,000 people and massive damage to infrastructure, including the water system. The ICRC, led by it’s local partner the Philippine Red Cross, distributed food packs, essential household items and hygiene kits for 18,000 people in three of the areas hardest hit within the first 48 hours. With more than 270,000 people now lacking access to clean drinking water, ICRC water and habitat engineers are devising ways to bring water from the undamaged water sources and of storing it for use by the survivors.

HAITI: The Haiti Red Cross Society is working to recycle rubble from the earthquake in 2010 to prepare for future disasters. So far they have been able to take 25,000 cubic meters of rubble and have local residents process it into concrete blocks, paving slabs or walls which will stop the ground from slipping away during Haiti’s next heavy rains or in case of another earthquake. The rubble recycling is just one part of the Haiti Red Cross Society’s neighborhood development support that assists in providing shelters, access to water and sanitation, and job opportunities along with training and technical support.

SOMALIA: Torrential rains that started in the southern provinces of Somalia in early October were welcomed in the drought stricken nation, however most roads were turned into rivers that have slowed down transport and delivery of food aid. Together with the Somali Red Crescent Society, the ICRC has distributed beans, rice and oil to over 917,000 people in southern and central Somalia. This will help farmers bridge the gap until January, when they will be able to harvest from seed the ICRC has also distributed.

NORTH KOREA: In North Korea, meager crops were severely damaged after being struck by a typhoon and flooding in July and August. Now, with the arrival of the first snow, people in the area are busy preparing for what they expect to be a severe winter. The Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, supported by the IFRC, has so far distributed 288 metric tons of yellow maize to 6,051 of the most vulnerable families (24,827 people) who were severely affected by floods and subsequent food shortages in three target counties in South Hwanghae province.


GLOSSARY:

ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Observe World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. Take a moment to remember that someone becomes infected with HIV every 12 seconds, about half of them under age 25. Every 16 seconds someone dies from AIDS-related causes. Thirty-one years into the epidemic, more than 34 million people around the world are living with HIV and many of these people are not aware they are infected.

Here in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released a new report showing that "only one in four Americans with AIDS has the virus under control."

The American Red Cross has been a key player in the fight against HIV globally for almost a decade and we continue to support comprehensive HIV prevention programs that reach people with the highest risk of contracting the disease in Kenya, Tanzania, Vietnam, China, Guyana, Bahamas, Jamaica, Haiti, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. A large part of our work focuses on building the capacity of our sister Red Cross societies. We help them better target the services, as they help communities cope with the shock and stresses of the disaster that is the ongoing HIV epidemic. For more information, visit www.redcross.org/international

Please also check out this fact sheet on specific ways we're involved in the fight: http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/International%20Services/Fact_Sheet_HIVAIDS.pdf

Graphic courtesy of globalministries.org