The Humanitarian 9

March 2009 | Issue 9

the Humanitarian

Black Saturdaysticking together

02640 The Humanitarian #9 2.indd 1 5/3/09 1:43:45 PM

P2 the Humanitarian

editorial

the inside

4Black Saturday

when disaster strikes

16coming closer to good health

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By now, the world over has heard of the devastating fires that have consumed much of Victoria. Our hearts are with those who have lost loved ones and who have been affected by Australia’s worst natural disaster in more than a century.

What is truly amazing and exemplifies the ‘power of humanity’ is the way the community at large has reached out to Victorians in their darkest hour. This includes the international community. Over 500,000 people have made donations and corporate Australia as well as governments have dug deep, raising over $220 million and counting.

Let us not forget the numerous volunteers who have worked around the clock to help those affected by the bushfires.

In this edition of the Humanitarian, we have devoted an additional section to the bushfires.

Contributing writer, Damien Kingsbury of Deakin University discusses the factors that come into play when trying to reduce the impact of natural disasters.

We also look at the recent floods in Queensland and the Brisbane storms of November, where hundreds of people lost their homes to water damage.

Further afield in the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie, WA, a holistic program is helping Indigenous locals learn about nutritious food.

And in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the devastation of the 2004 tsunami has sparked some innovative businesses that are proving fruitful.

And finally, there is still an urgent need to raise funds to support our day-to-day work in preparing communities for disasters, like the Victorian bushfires, making daily phone calls to elderly people living alone, providing breakfast for kids who would otherwise go without and bringing clean water and health to villages in the Asia Pacific.

Our general donations, like those made by regular givers, donors and corporate partners meant we were in a position to respond quickly to the Victorian bushfire and to continue to support vulnerable people in all these ways.

Robert Tickner CEO Australian Red Cross

24creating connections

Michael Raper Director of Services and International Operations Australian Red Cross

Front cover: Mick Osborne (left) and Rob Deeble tried to save their friends’ home in Kinglake, but like many the fight proved fruitless as 80km winds roared through the area.


March 2009 P3

In what has been labelled Australia’s worst natural disaster in more than a century, the Victorian bushfires have so far claimed the lives of 210 people and some 2,000 homes.

Since late January, fires have raged across Victoria, causing widespread damage. Over 500,000 hectares of land have been destroyed, with some 4,000 firefighters helping to extinguish and contain the fires.

More than 1,000 Red Cross people worked in relief and recovery centres, registering the names of people who were safe so that worried families and friends would know that they were ok. Others provided support and comfort, and ensured people had a bed and plenty to eat.

At the same time, Red Cross established the National Inquiry Centre in Melbourne, where volunteers from all over the country responded to more than 21,000 enquiries from people concerned about family or friends. In the past three weeks, 20,000 people from areas

affected by fires have registered with Red Cross.

The community spirit that emerged in response to the bushfires was overwhelming. More than $210 million has been donated to an appeal fund established by the State and Federal Governments in partnership with Red Cross.

This spirit of generosity has spread around the globe, with many Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies launching their own appeals or lending support in other ways to people affected by the fires. This is the first time other national societies have run appeals for an Australian crisis and we are grateful for this show of international support.

An Independent Advisory Panel headed by former Victorian Governor John Landy has been established to set criteria for the distribution of the Victorian Bushfire Appeal funds. The Victorian Government is distributing the funds through the Department of Human Services.

Community spiritAfter bushfires tore through the small towns of Boolara and Mirboo North in Gippsland, local people banded together to fight for their homes and memories. Red Cross was there, providing personal support and registration at relief centres as well as meals for affected residents and emergency services personnel.

Boolara resident Liz Tyler lives on a street destroyed by fire. While many of her neighbours lost their homes, she said that the crisis had brought the community together.

‘People have been talking to one another because they’ve needed to work together to fight the fires and protect their houses,’ Ms Tyler said. ‘Our neighbours came across and put out the fire that was only a metre from our window. The three fellows at the top of the hill lost their house but they came down as well. They saved our home,’ she said.

devastate Victoriaraging fires

Photo: Courtesy of Bendigo Advertiser


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March 2009 P5

Black Saturday

From the left to right: After escaping the fires and losing his home in Kinglake, Albin Weitacher received help from first-aider Mohammed Alam. - A familiar site on the road leading out of Kinglake, where many people crashed their vehicles while attempting to escape the ferocious fires. - The remains of a house in Kinglake. - Children seeking refuge at relief and recovery centres are entertained by Red Cross volunteers to pass the time. - Michael O’Meara is supported by his friend Vicki Ruhr at the Whittlesea relief and recovery centre. Michael lost many close friends in the bushfires. - A firefighter from the CFA takes a much-needed break in Kinglake. Photos: Australian Red Cross/Rodney Dekker


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Jules the dog is happy to be reunited with her owner Jae Lovelace after she escaped the horrific fires in Strathewen with the McKenzie family. Photo: Australian Red Cross/Rodney Dekker

sticking together


March 2009 P7

The tiny township of Strathewen is all but gone except for the chimneys of some of the 40 homes and the eucalyptus trees that stand defiant over the blackened landscape. There were 200 people living in the community nestled on the fringe of Kinglake and now over 40 are dead.

Here is the story of how one family, a few friends and three dogs managed to escape the inferno.

On 7 February, the hottest day on record for Victoria, the biggest concern for the McKenzie family was how to keep cool. Brothers Dylan (21) and Leigh (22) invited some friends around for a swim in their pool and were happily having a few drinks and laughs when the first of the fire embers started spitting on them in the pool.

‘We weren’t too worried then. We’ve been evacuated before, but usually you get a two-hour warning. We had been told that Whittlesea was under threat, but then flames started coming over the hill, then spot fires started on our neighbours paddock. It crept up on us so quickly, there was no warning...that’s when we realised we were in trouble,’ recounts Leigh.

‘We could hear the fire roaring and it sounded like a jet plane. It was like nothing I’ve heard before.’

It was then that the McKenzie’s and their friends began to panic. ‘When the power went out, we just went in the house grabbed a handful of what we could and then left in five cars. In total, five McKenzies and seven of their friends, plus three dogs piled into the cars.

On the way, they ran into their neighbours who had inconveniently run out of petrol, so they too crammed into the cars as

they made an attempted escape out of Strathewen.

When they got to Kinglake, however, everything was blocked off, so they had no choice but to take refuge in a building. They ran into the café on the main road that was just across the road from the hardware store and the petrol station. There were 20 people in the café including the McKenzie clan.

‘Shortly after we got to the café, the hardware store caught on fire and then the petrol station went up. Everything went black and it turned to night. There were red embers everywhere. Everyone started crying. I thought I was dead,’ recalls Dylan.

But somehow, they managed to survive the night lying low, with wet towels on their faces. The windows were too hot to touch or even stand near from a foot away.

When the McKenzie’s and their friends left the café in the morning, the petrol station was still burning (and continued to burn for 24 hours) and every house was levelled from Kinglake to Whittlesea. They arrived at the recovery centre in Whittlesea and experienced a sense of relief, if only temporarily. ‘From coming from nothing to some food, socks and jocks was a great thing. We registered with Red Cross and then got a bite to eat. It’s what you want is to find some friendly people who want to help out,’ explains Dylan.

For Jules, one of the dogs who was rescued, her greatest relief was being reunited with her owner Jae Lovelace, a friend of the brothers. The smile on the dog’s face is a welcome sight and momentarily helps one to forget the tragedy that everyone has just experienced.

Dylan (left) and his brother Leigh McKenzie lost their family home in Strathewen, but their entire family survived along with three dogs, including their friend’s dog Jules. Photo: Australian Red Cross/Rodney Dekker

As recovery efforts get underway in the areas hardest hit by the bushfires, there is a strong need to be aware of the longer-term psychological and social impacts, says Dr Rob Gordon, consultant psychologist to Red Cross.

‘Emergencies by their very nature are disruptive and can be extremely stressful. And situations like the Victorian bushfires, which have had such an enormous impact, will certainly have an effect on a large portion of the population,’ he says.

There are a range of emotions that people may be feeling after a major crisis, including shock and disbelief, numbness, fear, helplessness and anger or frustration. Many of these feelings will not be present immediately, and indeed some may take months or even years to be fully experienced.

‘People should also remember to look after their physical state,’ says Dr Gordon. ‘The health of the body as well as the mind can be directly affected by the event, with difficulty sleeping, muscular tension, weight gain or loss and inability to concentrate are all common physical reactions.’

Red Cross has a number of resources to assist people affected by emergencies, including a booklet on how to cope with a major personal crisis, and podcasts discussing how to deal with the stress of an emergency and how to help out after one has occurred.

If you would like assistance please visit www.redcross.org.au and follow the links to Emergency REDiPlan.

Psychological support - the next step to recovery

by Janine Gray


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news in brief

Heart of the StreetsHip-hop music featuring young homeless people from Brisbane’s Red Cross Night Café has just been released on a CD entitled Heart of the Streets.

Twenty young people from the Red Cross Night Café have worked with music producer Luke O’Sullivan to record their own hip-hop tracks about mental health, drugs and alcohol, and life on the streets.

The CD showcases the musical talents of young people speaking out about the challenging issues that affect the homeless community. They have created positive messages and provide advice to others who may be battling with homelessness, drug addiction or mental health problems.

‘The background rhythms were created by Luke Sullivan and the performers came up with their own lyrics based on life experience,’ says Red Cross’ Jeff Buckley.

‘The success of the project is best measured by the young people themselves, some of whom have since made big steps towards employment and accommodation.’

One of the young performers on the CD has now become a full-time musician, writing and performing his own style of rap music.

The hip-hop CD project was made possible using funds received from The JB Seed, a grants program set up by well-known artist John Butler.

The Red Cross Night Café is an after-hours safe space for ‘at-risk’ young people aged 12 to 25. It operates on Tuesday and Thursday nights as well as on Sunday afternoons.

The cafe provides meals and a couple of hours’ respite from the challenges of living on the streets. It also provides a space that gives young people the tools to help them turn their lives around.

Permanent homes ‘last step’ in tsunami recovery

Just over four years since the tsunami stuck, more than 1,400 houses have been built for survivors in Indonesia, with a further 200 under construction. Australian Red Cross has trained 150 community health volunteers, distributed 250 hygiene kits and built 600 toilets on Simeulue Island. In addition, 190 people have received small business training and 10,000 mangrove trees have been planted to help protect coastlines from erosion as well as re-establish marine habitats.

In Sri Lanka, more than 1,200 houses have been built or are under construction and major water and sanitation projects have been completed. Conflict in the north has affected some of our projects, but even in trying circumstances we have helped families to rebuild the local economy.

In the Maldives 74 islands have been cleaned up with the removal of 37,000 tonnes of household and tsunami debris. Water supplies have been boosted on 44 islands by installing 15 desalination units. Australian Red Cross has also contributed to the construction of Dhuvaafaru Island, a community of 3,500 people whose original islands were made uninhabitable.

Collectively, the Red Cross Red Crescent movement has built more than 41,000 permanent houses across the tsunami-affected areas, with a further 12,000 under construction. Red Cross has provided more than 500,000 people with improved access to fresh water, and over 370,000 people have been treated by community-based first-aid services.

More than 101 houses were built by Australian Red Cross for people affected by the tsunami in Ladong, on the outskirts of Banda Aceh. The houses are built to the highest quality standards and are earthquake resistant.

Hip Hop performer ‘T.C.’ at the launch of Heart of the Streets CD in Brisbane. Photo: Bruce Wardley

Red Cross Calling 2009 not going aheadRed Cross is currently responding to one of the worst disasters Australia has ever seen: the Victorian bushfires.

Over the coming weeks and months the operational response to the Bushfire Appeal will place unprecedented demands on Red Cross people and resources, requiring our full focus.

Because of this and because we do not want to cause confusion with another fundraiser, the decision has been made not to proceed with our major fundraising campaign, Red Cross Calling, this March. We apologise for this change of plans. To find out how you can still help, please visit www.redcross.org.au


March 2009 P9

Henry Baldwin, an engineer and philanthropist, has left a substantial gift to Red Cross in his will – the largest bequest ever received in Tasmania.

A long-time volunteer with Red Cross and passionate humanitarian, Henry’s generosity will help make daily phone calls to elderly people living alone, provide a healthy breakfast to kids who would otherwise go without and reunite families separated by conflict and disaster.

Henry was well known to staff in Red Cross in Hobart, and he often visited the office to say hello. He served on various Red Cross committees and also used the Emergency Home Alarm Service in the later years of his life.

A dedicated philanthropist, Henry was also an art lover and his immaculate home in Hobart’s Battery Point (with its extensive art collection and artifacts of historical importance) will become a museum in its own right in the future.

A significant portion of Red Cross’ fundraising income comes from bequests. To obtain a free copy of the wills booklet and find out how you can make a bequest, call 1800 649 685 (toll free) or email [email protected]

Henry Baldwin’s generous gift to Tasmania

Humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe worsens

news in brief

Zimbabweans are suffering a food crisis and the worst cholera epidemic in their history, with seven million people in need of food aid, according to the World Food Programme.

Fuelled by the country’s economic difficulties and a serious deterioration in the food supply situation, the worst cholera epidemic in history has now killed more than 3,200 people, infecting more than 64,000 and spreading to all provinces. There could be worse to come if the continuing rainy season leads to flooding in low-lying areas.

In addition, Zimbabwe is suffering appallingly as a result of HIV and AIDS. The pandemic claims an estimated 2,300 lives every day.

Zimbabwe Red Cross is supporting some of the country’s most vulnerable people, and is working closely with the global Red Cross Movement to provide immediate food aid, improve access to safe and adequate water and sanitation, and improve

awareness on the spread of disease. Longer-term agricultural programs are also underway to provide people with a way of rebuilding livelihoods and producing their own food.

Red Cross is monitoring and responding to the cholera epidemic and helping to strengthen Zimbabwe Red Cross. Specialist emergency response units are positioned around the country to tackle basic health needs and water and sanitation issues arising from the cholera epidemic.

Australian Red Cross launched the Zimbabwe Crisis Appeal 2009 to lend a hand.

What can you do?Donations to the Zimbabwe Crisis Appeal 2009 will be used by Red Cross to provide emergency food and agricultural recovery items, access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation education for up to 1.5 million people, and to send specialist aid workers to assist the Red Cross response.

For more on the appeal visit www.redcross.org.au and click on links to how you can help

A Zimbabwean girl carries a bucket of water from a stream in Budiriro neighbourhood in Harare. Photo: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo


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whendisaster strikes

When natural disaster strikes,

a number of factors come

into play when trying to reduce

the impact of the devastation,

writes Damien Kingsbury.

A boy stands by a village destroyed by Cyclone Nargis in Yangon. Photo: Reuters


March 2009 P11

Disasters in developing countries are commonly on a scale unimaginable to those who have not witnessed them first-hand. In the face of overwhelming humanitarian crisis, resources are stretched and then broken, systems collapse and misery ensues. Human beings too easily become statistics, and the news cycle soon moves on. The legacy of human misery following a disaster, however, remains.

The human cost of disaster can be much greater for developing countries, although, the case of Black Saturday in Victoria shows that even developed countries can be vulnerable. Disasters, both natural and man-made, are more critical in developing countries because they exist so close to the margins that it takes little to tip them over the edge. The people of a country that is barely food self-sufficient will, in times of drought or other hardship, suffer disproportionately. A developing country’s health system will quickly collapse under extra pressure.

Australia is lucky in having a quick-acting and relatively well-trained and resourced emergency services. Most developing countries, however, do not have such resources or training. Sometimes those who are supposed to help are part of the problem.

The logistical difficulties of emergency aid in disaster areas are in part caused by destruction, but also the poor infrastructure that’s initially available. Starting from a low base, infrastructure is more vulnerable, and its loss is felt more keenly. And in many countries, such as East Timor after 1999, there is little local capacity to deal with disaster. In other countries, notably in Africa, deeply divided politicians are too commonly more interested in holding onto power than in rescuing the country.

In some cases, disaster prevention is possible. Excessive deforestation, for example, causes landslides and allows water run-off that exacerbates already

flood-prone areas. This can be limited or ended. An early warning system can alert people to an incoming tsunami.

But a tsunami cannot be stopped, a volcano will erupt, earthquakes will shake the ground and fires, as we have recently seen, can raze entire towns in a matter of minutes. Some planning can help – earthquake-proof housing, building on higher ground and so on. But this has rarely been part of development planning. And it often costs more to plan and prepare properly, which many communities cannot afford.

As democratisation increases its global presence, governments in developing countries may become more accountable to their citizens, and plan and respond more adequately. But they will continue to face material and human constraints.

The international community also has (and has to some extent accepted) a large responsibility for disaster relief. Enlightened self-interest might tell us that disaster relief helps us win friends and perhaps settle political discontent as a consequence of domestic inadequacy. The international community has also recognised its moral duty to help.

But perhaps what we do to help others says less about our ability to plan or respond, or theirs. What it speaks to is the type of people we are, and the qualities of the communities we comprise. Until or unless developing countries substantially change, they will always require emergency aid and more capacity building in the longer term. But our commitment to aid also puts substance to the kinds of people we are, or would hope to be.

Damien Kingsbury is an associate professor at Deakin University in Melbourne and teaches international and community development. Prior to switching to the world of academia, Damien practised journalism for 15 years at the Age and ABC Radio Australia.

disaster strikes

When natural disaster strikes,

a number of factors come

into play when trying to reduce

the impact of the devastation,

writes Damien Kingsbury.

Australian Red Cross has been focusing on disaster preparedness since 2004 with partner Red Cross societies in the Pacific. Funds for this program come from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The program has concentrated on Melanesian countries (Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji and Solomon Islands), which have 80 per cent of the population of the Pacific and are especially disaster prone. In 2009, Red Cross societies in Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Kiribati also joined the program.



Mclin Matthew was out in his small fishing boat when his world turned upside down. ‘The sea was huge – four to five metres high and I couldn’t drop anchor, so we drifted for three days,’ he says. ‘I was very scared because I’d never seen anything like it before and at one point we almost drowned. Thankfully, I was with three other fishermen and we had enough food and water for one week. Eventually we got to Kavieng and I found out that the island where I live was almost completely submerged and everyone had been evacuated to a nearby island.’

Unlike most of his community, Mclin was one of the lucky few whose house was still standing. ‘All our food and crops were destroyed. I cried when I saw what had happened,’ Mclin says.

Mclin, 30 years old, has lived on Tench Island all his life. It is a tiny and remote island in the St Matthias Group in New Ireland province and one of eight provinces hit by the massive sea swells. Caused by a combination of king tides and two tropical depressions in the Pacific, the huge seas caused extensive and severe flooding over widespread coastal areas and low-lying outer islands of PNG. Across the eight provinces, two people lost their lives and over 60,000 people were affected in some way through losing their home, livelihoods and support structures. PNG Red Cross delivered immediate assistance to close to 16,000 people.

‘Red Cross gave us so many things that we didn’t have in our lives, such as water containers, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, nails and many other relief items,’ says Mclin. ‘We are keen to go back to our island, but we’ll have to wait for a couple

of years until the government authorities in New Ireland say it is safe.’

New Ireland was one of the hardest-hit provinces, with 4,600 people immediately affected, 1,408 houses destroyed, 1,200 families displaced, and health and water facilities destroyed. Lyle Alickson was one of 20 volunteers from the New Ireland branch of PNG Red Cross who played a critical role in ensuring that people like Mclin got the help they needed. For 14 days, Lyle staffed a radio set up by a health network in the main centre of Keviang. It was the only way people in many remote areas of the province could communicate with the outside world.

‘We were getting reports from many places that the sea had gone right though people’s houses, into their gardens, destroyed roads and crops

coastal communitiessea swells

Late last year, huge sea swells

caused severe flooding over

eight provinces in Papua New

Guinea. Louise McCosker reports

from Port Moresby on the damage

done and the recovery process.

destroy


March 2009 P13

New Ireland in PNG was hit by severe sea swells late last year. Photo: John Hosea

and uprooted coconut trees,’ says Lyle. ‘We had a call that Tench Island was submerged in seawater and all 118 residents had to be evacuated. We got the message to the provincial disaster centre who organised for the people to be evacuated to nearby Emirau Island, and the Red Cross made sure that the people had relief items. These people are now living with their extended families or under tarpaulins, but it is important that they get nails, hammers and saws so they can build new houses and start to rebuild their lives’.

While life is getting back to normal for the people of New Ireland, Lyle talks of her concern about the increasing incidence of malaria as a direct result of the sea swells. ‘The big waves have caused thousands of mosquitoes to

breed and now we’re seeing many cases of malaria. An old man who was evacuated from Tench Island died this morning from malaria. Our volunteers are still doing what they can to help people in need,’ Lyle says.

The increase in malaria is also worrying Cathy Sollokai, chair of the interim branch of the Red Cross in Sandaun Province, the northwestern-most province of PNG. Here, 70 houses were destroyed and over 1,000 people were affected.

‘When I saw that houses had been washed away, I contacted Red Cross in Port Moresby to alert them to what was happening,’ Cathy says. ‘It wasn’t long before Red Cross volunteers were at work in the badly affected

areas, assisting victims, assessing the damage and distributing basic relief supplies. The main problem now is malaria. We’re seeing 20 people a day with the disease, which is a big increase. We’re now planning to do the final distribution of mosquito nets in the next few days.’

The relief effort continues with further distributions of mosquito nets, water containers, nails and materials to help those affected rebuild their homes and their lives.

Australian Red Cross plays a key role in supporting PNG Red Cross, mostly around HIV awareness and prevention, disaster response and through a disaster preparedness project that began in 2006.

coastal communities

‘The sea was huge – four to

five metres high and I couldn’t drop anchor, so we drifted

for three days. I was very scared because I’d never

seen anything like it before.’

destroy



When South Australians were subjected to a record-breaking heatwave for eight consecutive days, more than 600 heat-related hospital admissions occurred over four days, health facilities were stretched to the limit and many elective surgeries were cancelled. A temporary morgue was required to handle the overflow from the increased number of deaths. The heatwave proved to be an emergency situation and put lives at risk.

Red Cross immediately expanded its daily phone call service to elderly people living alone in collaboration with the State Government’s emergency management response, according to Kerry Symons, of Red Cross in South Australia.

‘We were very worried by the fact that so many people all over South Australia are living by themselves, often with very

Kerry said.

Phone calls were made to more than 6,000 people who were deemed at risk, in addition to the existing 700 clients. Calls were also offered three times a day during the heatwave, as opposed to the usual daily phone call. The Telecross heatwave response helped save three lives.

In one instance, a woman living in regional South Australia failed to answer her call. Her daughter was alerted and found her mother had collapsed, so she took her to the hospital.

Another caller discovered the father of a two-year-old autistic boy and two other children was suffering from the heat and worried about his ability to go shopping for his family. He also said he had limited family support. Red Cross notified Disability South Australia who provided ongoing assistance.

The week-long operation was supported by over 500 volunteers who assisted the regular Red Cross team. Together, they made over 15,000 calls. They not only checked on the recipients’ wellbeing when they made the calls, but also provided practical advice about how to keep safe during extreme weather conditions. If at any time a call was not answered, immediate emergency procedures were activated to check on the person’s welfare.

People who were considered the most vulnerable to the heatwave included elderly, carers, children, people with existing chronic health problems or with a disability, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

record heatwaveHeadline reproduced courtesy of The Advertiser/Sunday Mail.

easing the effects of


few connections to the community,’

March 2009 P15

‘Following any disaster, the greatest needs are shelter, clean water and proper sanitation,’ says veteran Red Cross aid worker, Bob Handby. With safe drinking water a key component of humanitarian relief efforts both at home and overseas, Red Cross has warmly welcomed a new partnership with Frantelle Spring Water.

Together we have created Thirst Aid, a campaign that aims to quench thirst while raising $400,000 to enable Red Cross to assist people in need in Australia and abroad. With Frantelle generously providing a donation of $200,000, Red Cross is appealing to consumers to help match this amount.

In the aftermath of last year’s disastrous storms in southeast Queensland, Frantelle assisted Red Cross relief efforts, generously donating more than 2,500 litres of drinking water and 600 litres of fruit juice.

‘Frantelle is helping make a difference to the lives of the most vulnerable people,’ says Mr Handby.

Mr Handby knows the value of water in times of crisis, having worked for Red Cross since 1984 on water and sanitation projects.

From Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, to northern Iraq during the Gulf War and more recently in Myanmar last year when Cyclone Nargis struck, he has helped provide safe drinking water to populations displaced by conflict and to communities devastated by disasters.

‘Red Cross aid workers and volunteers reach people and places like nobody else. The Thirst Aid campaign aims to raise funds to help us reach more communities in need, both across Australia and abroad,’ Mr Handby said.

Three easy ways you support the Thirst Aid campaign:

1 Buy a bottle of Frantelle Spring Water then visit the campaign website (www.thirst-aid.com.au) to send an email to your friends telling them about Thirst Aid and how easy it is to make a difference to the most vulnerable people in the community.

2 Make a secure online donation at www.thirst-aid.com.au

3 SMS ‘AID’ to 1991 0101 to donate $2 (less variable phone carrier administrative costs; see www.thirst-aid.com.au for terms and conditions).

Bob Handby in Papua New Guinea standing in front of his favourite commodity – water.

of people in needquenching the thirst



coming closer to

Villagers living in the hills in Laos are still worlds away

from their urban counterparts, but

clean running water is helping

to lift health standards, writes

Kelly Chandler.

good health

When the ethnic Lao Teung people from the hills of northern Laos (Lao People’s Democratic Republic) decided to resettle further down the mountain, they were hoping to bring their families closer to health services and schools for their children.

They weren’t expecting to be struck down by illness when they reached their new home, but soon after they established Houy Mad village, most people in the 35 families fell sick.

‘We were very poor in the old village,’ says villager Chan Phang. ‘After we moved, we all got malaria and diarrhoea because there were many mosquitoes in the new environment and the water source was unclean,’ she says.

It took time to clear the land of mosquito-friendly habitat and develop the infrastructure they would need to keep their community healthy.

Lao Red Cross, which first started working with these villagers in their old location in 2002, helped the community recover its health by distributing mosquito nets and encouraging people to boil their water for 15 minutes before drinking.

‘At first in this new place, we had a natural water source, but it was very dirty; animals would go in there to wash and drink. We got very sick. And there was no water at all in the dry season, April and May. We couldn’t shower and we had to preserve the water for drinking,’ says chief Khanbin Chittaphone.

It took a month to build a new water system for the village, with support from Lao Red Cross, funding from Australian Red Cross and local labour. The team ran a pipe from a stream one kilometre up in the hills, down to a cement holding tank. Vegetables are planted around the tank to make use of the run-off water,

Finding clean water northern Laos meant walking for kilometres into th e mountains, until a Red Cross water and sanitation team arrived. Photo: Australian Red Cross/Vandy Rattana


March 2009 P17

coming closer to

good health

Before Red Cross built a water pipe

from an unpolluted source, animals

would contaminate the water and

make people sick.

and pipes feed the water to five tap stands throughout the village.

‘It’s getting better now that we have water to use. It’s comfortable and easy, and we even have enough to drink and bathe in the dry season,’ says Chittaphone, who is also a Red Cross volunteer and part of the water users’ group, which appoints a caretaker for each of the tap stands. The men in the water user’s group maintain the fence and area around the taps, while the women monitor cleanliness and the families’ use of water. As the head of the women’s water user’s group, this is Chan Phang’s job.

‘My responsibility is to tell the women and children to keep the area clean all the time,’ says Mrs Phang. Others are responsible for regularly cleaning out the large cement holding tank, while everyone in the community contributes 1000 kip (about 17 cents) a month to the maintenance fund, which is overseen by

a trained water maintenance committee staffed by locals.

Each day the villagers travel from their new home to tend to their corn and rice fields – walking a narrow path that they’ve cut into hills – flanked by marigolds and yellow butterflies. If someone falls ill it’s still an hour’s walk to the nearest village, and then a further half-hour by car to the Chompet district health centre, but this is much closer than before. It once took more than four hours to walk to the health centre and there was no road access and no transport.

‘Now, we need proper latrines,’ says Mrs Phang. ‘When people get sick we have to carry them out by ourselves to the next village. It’s very difficult for us. Still, people don’t get sick as often any more. We used to get sick a lot in the old village,’ she says.

Finding clean water northern Laos meant walking for kilometres into th e mountains, until a Red Cross water and sanitation team arrived. Photo: Australian Red Cross/Vandy Rattana



Tracey Watson paints a stark scene of bush fire damage to her native land in Cundalee, approximately 200km east of Kalgoorlie. Photo: Janine Gray

goes aWhen it comes to

food and nutrition, a healthy and

holistic approach is proving popular

among some Kalgoorlie locals,

discovers Janine Gray.

food and play

long way


March 2009 P19

It’s a typically hot day for Kalgoorlie, even under the eucalyptus trees in the park where a few locals have already congregated – some to seek shade, others to seek knowledge, and several to get a bit of lunch.

The mix of people gathering in the park is quite diverse. There are young mums with their toddlers who have come for the crèche play activities, including finger painting, fun in the sandpit, storytelling, gym mats and tunnels. Another group of locals has meandered over to help prepare the nourishing lunch that they had planned the week before. Today’s menu is a healthy salad complemented by fresh ground-beef patties padded out with a variety of grated vegetables that help with the flavour and the budget.

After grating the carrots and slicing some cucumbers, Boulder local Katherine Clanona pulls up her sleeves, washes her hands and gets in among the ground beef. It’s all part of the learning through the Feel Good Families Program. Meanwhile, Tracey Watson, also a regular, sits herself down to a session of painting. A stark scene gradually emerges, simply using the colour orange for the sky and black for the trees. When asked what she’s painting, she describes a bush fire, with burnt trees against the setting sun.

‘The drought is going to break next year,’ she says with understated certainty. When asked how she knows, she just shrugs her shoulders and says she just knows. Others around her are also getting into the painting or having a quiet yarn while the lunch is being prepared by their friends in this informal learning environment.

There’s a relaxed feel at the park, complemented by the twangy country music playing on someone’s portable radio.

Red Cross’ Kaye McLennan, who’s been running the Feel Good Families Program in the park every Wednesday for the past three months, says this is her favourite day of the week.

‘There’s such an interesting diversity of people gathering together. People of all ages and from varying backgrounds participating in different ways: yarning, sharing knowledge, engaging in useful learning activities, having a laugh, dabbling with the paints or simply cooking up some healthy tucker. A vital component in among all this is that five agencies – sometimes more – join

together to support each other’s programs and, in the process, we all learn more about the local Aboriginal culture.’

run the program in the park came about.

‘We were originally going to hold the program in an enclosed kitchen, but no one turned up…so we thought if people won’t come to the centre because they don’t feel comfortable, we’ll go to them. This shift in understanding saw us stock up the Red Cross van with gas burners, camp ovens and everything else we needed for lunching in the park.

‘Catering to diversity is an ongoing challenge,’ continues Kaye. ‘We have elderly people looking after grandchildren and we have young mums who sometimes have three to five children. This means that the program has to be flexible and practical when incorporating ideas about exercise,

planning shopping lists and creating tasty meals or snacks on a budget. Some recipe modifications have included adding wholemeal flour to the ever-popular damper and making kangaroo shish kebabs.’

Tracey says of the venue and the changes to familiar recipes: ‘I come here all the time to this park because it’s nice and cool, we sit around, meet some people and the food is alright.’

Essentially, the program is trying to take a holistic approach, which is why agencies are working together, explains Kaye. ‘We can’t be all things to everyone and so a core group of five agencies get together to share our particular expertise and promote healthy lifestyles in a culturally appropriate way. Some examples of this may be seen to include calling the collective program “Nintari Yingka”, which translates in Wongatha to mean “learn, play, sing” and from this, the two-way learning has continued to unfold.’

Red Cross Community Nutrition Programs work towards addressing the issues of those who struggle to live within a low income or are homeless. Red Cross also runs a soup patrol service in Kalgoorlie Boulder three evenings a week. Here, community-minded volunteers share a warm evening meal with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the region as they travel through the Kalgoorlie Boulder town sites and outskirts.

Homelessness, particularly among Aboriginal people, continues to be a serious problem in this gold mining town, where rents have been driven up by the resources boom, and more recently affected by the closures of mines. There continues to be a critical lack of affordable social housing.

goes a long way


Kaye goes on to explain how the idea to


The heady, aromatic smell of cooked coconut wafts through the village of Lampineung on the outskirts of Banda Aceh. The source of the tantalising smell is a group of six women who have formed their own version of the Spice Girls.

Nurjanah and her friends have already made their first million rupiah and are well on the way to their second.

After doing small business training with Australian Red Cross last year, which covered budgeting, marketing and good business practices, Nurjana and her friends submitted a proposal to set up a business making kelapa gongseng, a spicy coconut paste traditionally used in Acehnese and Padang food.

They received a small grant of around ten million Indonesian rupiah (A$1,340) and are required to reinvest at least ten per cent of their profits into the business.

An average day sees the women crack open, grind and cook more than 500 coconuts. They make around 55kg of the

spice every two days, which is quickly snapped up by local shopkeepers.

The entrepreneurial women make sure they maximise their profits by minimising waste – every part of the coconut is used for something. The flesh from poor-quality coconuts is sold to make coconut oil, while the husks are sold as fuel.

‘Our long-term dream is to build a glasshouse so we can dry the coconut faster and make even more spice,’ Nurjanah says.

Community gardens to farming schoolsWith funds from the tsunami Appeal, Australian Red Cross has provided 24 small business grants to more than 175 people in Aceh for a variety of activities from raising livestock to fishing and mat-weaving.

Simeulue, one of the poorest islands in Indonesia, suffered a second blow after the tsunami, when another massive

Helping people recover from the

devastation of the 2004 tsunami has sparked some

innovative and resourceful new

businesses in Indonesia, writes Michelle Jeuken.

enterprise proves fruitfula spicy

Spice girl Nurjanah grinds the flesh from the coconut with a machine purchased with a grant from Australian Red Cross to help tsunami survivors build entrepreneurial skills. Photo: Australian Red Cross/Ade Sonivil


March 2009 P21

earthquake struck on 28 March 2005. The force of both earthquakes raised the entire island by two metres, exposing coral reefs, permanently altering the water table and salinating many of the island’s rice fields. More than 50,000 of the island’s population of 80,000 people were left homeless and destitute.

‘We were trying to deal with trauma from the earthquake and tsunami, and decided to form a group where we could support each other and talk,’ says 42-year-old Ibu Wanun Jarni, head of the Manang Inda sub-village community garden. ‘We decided a community garden would be a good way to do this.’

The community garden now grows enough cassava, corn, chillies and other

The women share 50 per cent of the profits from the sale of their vegetables, with the other half used to buy seeds and other materials.

And they’re not the only successful group still up and running. Ali Hamsa and six other people took part in ‘farmer field school’ training run by Red Cross in the village of Panton Lawe. Since the training they have gone from strength to strength.

‘Our original pilot plot was 20 metres by 20 metres. We are now farming almost three hectares and I have trained 83 other people about better farming methods. We are now growing cucumbers, lettuce, onions, chillies, peanuts and bananas,’ Ali says.

A fish farming project, a seaweed farm and mangrove plantations were less successful and have not continued, but they have provided valuable experience for future projects.

Lessons learntLocal Red Cross worker Manish Tewani says that providing people with the support and opportunity to develop new skills and encourage entrepreneurial flair has been an important part of the

recovery process by building resilience and helping people to stand on their own feet.

‘These are projects which set out to address the issues of food security, nutrition, health and economic security which impacted on people following the tsunami,’ says Manish.

‘To see these businesses flourishing is testament to their success in helping people recover from the tsunami, as well as build their resilience to future disasters.’

For more information about Red Cross livelihood programs in Indonesia, visit www.redcross.org.au

After receiving training and support from Red Cross, a farmer field school on the island of Simeulue has continued to expand. Group leader Ali, pictured, says they now farm more than three hectares of land. Photo: Australian Red Cross/Ade Sonivil

enterprise proves fruitful


vegetables to supply the whole village.


‘I had a tough start. No one really parented me and I had no idea of what to do when I became a mum so young,’ says Rachael (20) as she recalls the days when she had her first child.

Rachael’s own mum was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 21, and her father left their Adelaide home by the time she was in pre-school.

‘I started experimenting with drugs at 12, never went to high school. Mum couldn’t cope with me and I moved to Sydney to be with my grandfather,’ Rachel says.

‘Then I continued mixing with the wrong crowd, Grandpa kicked me out. By 14, I lived on the streets back in Adelaide.

At 16, Rachael gave birth to her first child. He was removed from Rachael’s care because of domestic violence and drug use.

‘When my son was taken from me it was tough, but it turned out to be a blessing,’ she said

Pregnant again, Rachael entered a rehab program for six months then made the transition to the Red Cross Young Parents Program. She gave birth to a baby girl and had her son restored to her care.

The Young Parents Program is based in a rambling old house in Sydney, and accommodates up to eight young mothers and their children. It is also home to a busy childcare centre for the families in the area.

Those who live here have often had tough childhoods, and some have a history of drug and alcohol abuse.

Red Cross’ Anne King says the women may have been in and out of foster care, exposed to sexual and physical violence, and may have few appropriate family or social supports and few role models on which to base their own parenting skills.

’Young mums who live here are in the first stage of the program with 24-hour intensive support,’ Ms King says. ‘In the second stage, they’ll be supported in independent living in a community house, and in the third stage, crisis support to help the family’s transition to independent living.

‘If we can help them develop their capacity and skills, the risk factors will

be reduced, resulting in overall better outcomes for young women and their children,’ says Ms King.

In September last year, the service received a huge boost with the announcement of $3.9 million in funding from the NSW Government over three years through the Department of Community Services’ Brighter Futures early intervention program. The Red Cross program links in with the government’s early intervention policy to help break the cycle of child abuse and homelessness, and help young women achieve their personal goals in terms of undertaking education and training.

Rachael worked hard in the residential program for a year and then transitioned into the second stage, and she now feels more equipped to take more responsibility for her children. ‘I learned parenting skills, cooking, how to wrap a baby, healthy eating, budgeting and baby massage,’ she says. ‘Having faith gave me hope to realise my potential. Now I want to help other people and make sure my children grow up in a community with a foundation of love and respect.’

While the 2006 Census suggests around 11,000 women aged 15 to 19 years will give birth nationally, the data doesn’t paint the full picture of how many have nowhere to turn.

Rachael is now a confident, happy young woman, studying for a Ministry Certificate at Southern Cross University.

Since 2003 a reunion camp has helped maintain connections between clients and families.

Red Cross’, Stanya Sharota, says the camp provides a chance for a short holiday and to take part in activities they would otherwise not be able to afford or access.

‘The annual camp gives mums a break while children are cared for some of the time,’ says Stanya.

Every year in Australia,

thousands of teenage women

become pregnant and are in dire

need of a support network, discovers

Elaine Rees.

teenage mums

a haven for

From the top: Jen and her son Andreas have been part of the Young Parent’s Program for six years. Rachael with her second child Evelyn.


March 2009 P23

Floods in North QueenslandRed Cross volunteers provided essential services to those affected by the floods in North Queensland in February. This included the staffing of the Evacuation Centre in Ingham and Townsville, assisting with the Community Recovery Centre and door knocking over 3,500 homes in the area.

The Evacuation Centre operated for 10 days and housed an average of 54 people each night.

David and Anastasia Jones in front of the tree that landed on their house. Photo: Tim Page

Brad Tomlinson with his daughter Phoebe at the Recovery Centre. Photo: Tim Page

stormin the eye of a

Around 8,000 residents suffered damage from the storms in Brisbane in November, with 305 homes severely damaged and around 85 completely destroyed. Red Cross was heavily involved in the response, with over 380 staff and volunteers on the ground providing personal support through an outreach program in the worst-hit areas, and a presence in the Recovery Centres established to support those affected.

‘I don’t mind a good storm,’ explains Anastasia, ‘but our daughter was a bit afraid. So I was telling her, this isn’t really a storm, but then – bang – it just hit. We went to the middle of the house, the safest part away from the glass windows. It was over very quickly, but in that time we got a great light show and had hail coming underneath the door. It was that loud I didn’t even hear the tree fall on the house, just because of the noise of the wind and the rain.’

‘I’m just glad all of this is here,’ says Brad Tomlinson, pointing around at the Recovery Centre in Brisbane. ‘What they’ve pulled together in such a short amount of time is pretty impressive.’



Building job skills and volunteering ideals has been the focus of a school certificate aimed at Year 11 and 12 students in the remote reaches of the Northern Territory.

Maningrida is the second-largest Indigenous community in the Northern Territory with around 2,600 people. Located on the north coast of Australia in West Arnhem Land, it’s a hub of varying cultures, traditions and languages.

Over the course of three weeks more than 60 students learned practical work skills, got involved with their communities and did a mural painting to display healthy images to the community. With the help of children’s book illustrator Alison Lester, the trainees drew pictures that were projected onto the mural surface and later painted in. Isiah Smith (aged 16), Daniel Smith (15), Dallas James (16), Boaz Wilson (20) and Jethro Brian (15) said they felt ‘happy and proud’ when they finished their painting and thought volunteering was good for the community.

Red Cross team members worked with the students who put their volunteering

Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, Mala’la Aged Care and the Malabam Health Board. Some of the ways in which they helped were to serve food, organise archives and clean.

Kylie Pascoe (17) thought that the best part of the volunteering was at Mala’la Aged Care where she made lunches for the people there. Cynthia Buwarngarra (15), who also participated in the program, said she really enjoyed ‘helping the community and little kids at the school’.

Before working at the different organisations, the students were taken on a tour and shown hygienic food preparation practices and the different health and safety procedures of that organisation.

Community development officers Michael Beattie and Jenny Dally said that the feedback from the community had been really good: ‘The workers from the various organisations said they appreciated the volunteers coming in to help them with their work. It also helped create connections in the community. People who wouldn’t normally interact came into contact with each other.

‘During the rainy season, for six months of the year, Maningrida is totally detached from other places, because the rivers are so much higher. The only way to get there is by plane. This has a lot of impact on how the place is run. There’s a real sense of isolation when you’re out there and there’s an emphasis on self-reliance.’

Red Cross has been working in partnership with Maningrida community since 2007, providing breakfast for kids who would otherwise go without, a holiday program for young people in remote communities, first aid training and the delivery of community services as part of the Youth Shared Responsibility Agreement signed between the Maningrida Community and the Australian Government in June 2006. The Certificate I in Active Volunteering was part of the Vocational Education and Training-in-schools program at the local school.

Creating connections in the community

Timmy Maxwell and Dallas James work on the healthy messages mural at Malabam.

Athon Darcy paints his contribution.

Isiah Smith, Daniel Smith, Dallas James, Boaz Wilson and Jethro Brian participated in the volunteer program in Maningrida.

creating connectionsin the community


skills to practise at the school, the

March 2009 P25

Creating connections in the community

creating connectionsin the community

Maningrida Year 11 and 12 students painted a mural that reflects a healthy community.



In an effort to help those who suffered burns in the devastating Victorian firestorms, over 40,000 people registered online with the Blood Service in the 10 days after the fires broke out. This is an incredible increase given there are usually 2,200 registrations per month.

‘The community support and goodwill has been absolutely fantastic, and we would like to thank everyone who has pledged to donate,’ says Blood Service National Operations Manager, Dr Pip Hetzel.

Dr Hetzel asked all who had pledged to be patient while waiting for staff to call and make an appointment for them. ‘Your blood donation will be just as valuable, if not more valuable, in the coming weeks and months.’

While burns sufferers will use around 18 per cent of the blood supply, over 30 per cent helps to treat people with cancer and other blood diseases.

‘The demand for blood is expected to double in the next decade, and so 2009 has been designated the Year of the Blood Donor, in which we’re aiming to attract over 100,000 new donors,’ says Dr Hetzel.

‘At the moment, only one in 30 Australians donate blood, yet one in three will need blood in their lifetime. In the Year of the Blood Donor we are looking to raise awareness of the importance of giving blood.’

Year of the Blood Donor activities are funded by the Government Department of Health and Ageing and include a nationwide interactive travelling exhibition, where prospective donors can get their blood typed, and an online education package called BloodBuddies for students in Years 7 to 10.

To find out more about Year of the Blood Donor, or to make an appointment to give blood, visit donateblood.com.au or call 13 14 95.

For more information on Year of the Blood Donor, and to become a donor, visit www.donateblood.com.au

during Victoria’s bushfire disaster

blood donations increase twentyfold


March 2009 P27

In light of the recent

humanitarian crisis in Gaza,

Dr Helen Durham comments on

the importance of international

humanitarian law.

In the last decade, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has gone from a seemingly esoteric area of legal regulation to become an integral part of media discussions on various situations involving armed conflict. Television reporters commenting on the crisis in Gaza now use terms such as distinction and limitation – the fundamental elements of IHL. Distinction requires any military attack to distinguish between the civilian population and their infrastructure and military objectives. In so doing the aim is to limit the suffering of civilians and to ensure that within the horrors of armed conflict there is a space for humanity. The principle of limitation relates to the types of weapons warring parties are able to use and limits those weapons that have an indiscriminate effect.

Another crucial element of IHL demonstrated during the Gaza crisis is the obligation to protect medical personnel and the providers of humanitarian relief. The laws of war have specific provisions requiring respect for medical teams and their equipment,

and Red Cross national societies within the global Movement have a particular role to play in ensuring that the wounded are not left to suffer alone and are able to receive medical and other humanitarian assistance. Ensuring that warring factions on all sides understand the obligations found in IHL and, more importantly, follow these rules is an essential and extremely difficult task. Red Cross globally spoke out strongly of the need to follow IHL during the Gaza crisis, and Australian Red Cross also added its voice to the concerns expressed. President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Jakob Kellenberger was quoted as saying, ‘It is unacceptable to see so many wounded people. Their lives must be spared and the security of those who care for them guaranteed.’

Through the dissemination of IHL to our own military personnel, Federal Police, humanitarian organisations, students and the general public, Australian Red Cross has a role as a national society to foster an understanding of that basic but essential idea: ‘Even wars have laws’.

The laws of war during the Gaza crisisPalestinians survey a kindergarten destroyed after an Israeli air strike in Gaza. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

‘It is unacceptable to see so many

wounded people. Their lives must

be spared and the security of those

who care for them guaranteed.’

President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger


National Office 155 Pelham Street, VIC 3053 Tel +61 3 9345 1800 Fax +61 3 9348 2513 www.redcross.org.au

ACT Cnr Hindmarsh Drive and Palmer Street, Garran ACT 2605 Tel 02 6234 7600 Fax 02 6234 7650

NSW 159 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Tel 02 9229 4111 Fax 02 9229 4244

NT Cnr Lambell Terrace and Schultze Street, Larrakeyah NT 0820 Tel 08 8924 3900 Fax 08 8924 3909

QLD 49 Park Road, Milton QLD 4064 Tel 07 3367 7222 Fax 07 3367 7444

SA 207-217 Wakefield Street, Adelaide SA 5000 Tel 08 8100 4500 Fax 08 8100 4501

TAS 40 Melville Street, Hobart TAS 7000 Tel 03 6235 6077 Fax 03 6231 1250

VIC 23-47 Villiers Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051 Tel 03 8327 7700 Fax 03 8327 7711

WA 110 Goderich Street, East Perth WA 6004 Tel 08 9225 8888 Fax 08 9325 5112

Contact your local Red Cross office for

more information.

Humanity The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. ts purpose is to protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, co-operation and lasting peace among all people.

Impartiality It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress.

Neutrality In order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the Movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.

Independence The Movement is independent. The National Societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with the principles of the Movement.

Voluntary Service It is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain.

Unity There can be only one Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in any one country.It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory.

Universality The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all Societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other, is worldwide.

Cover image Rodney Dekker Designer Miguel Valenzuela, housemouse Editor Janine Gray Proofreader Peter Cruttenden Printer DPA printed on Monza Satin recycled 200 and 130 gsm.

the Humanitarian is published three times a year by Australian Red Cross. Mailing address 155 Pelham Street Carlton VIC 3053, Australia. Telephone 00 11 61 3 9345 1800

In all activities, Red Cross staff members and volunteers are guided by the following Fundamental Principles.


Documents

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