#12 Africa reportage - IFRC.org Reportage... · Photo credit Juozas Cer-nius/IFRC On the Cover. 3 / Africa reportage International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

www.ifrc.orgSaving lives, changing minds.

Africa repor tageThe newsletter from IFRC Africa zone

p.2 A word from the Director | p.3 Strategy 2020 in action Floods in Sahel • Flooding in Cameroon • Using technology in Sudan flood response | p.4 A new National Society is born | p.5 The Gulf States come to Africa | p.6 In Africa Right Now Legislative elections in Guinea • Run-off elections in Madagascar | p.7 Together for action IFRC signs partnership agreement with African Development Bank • IFRC receives grant to combat malaria in conflict stricken Central African Republic | p.8 In numbers | p.8 Diary | p.8 Humanitarian diplomacy in action African National Societies: From implementers to negotiators | p.9 Working together Beneficiary communications boot camp | p.10 Celebrating Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers

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#12December 2013

2 /Africa reportageInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

A word from the Director

They come from all walks of life, male, female, some

young, some not so young. They are students, and

health care providers, business people and parents. Some have been

affected by conflict, others by recurring cycles of drought and flooding.

But they all come to the Red Cross Red Crescent with one thing in com-

mon: to help their neighbours who are less fortunate.

It was 150 years ago that the Movement began, founded on the Funda-

mental Principle of voluntary service: It is a voluntary relief movement

not prompted in any manner by desire for gain. And on 5 December, we

collectively pause to reflect and express thanks for their efforts.

Across Africa today, that principle is kept alive by the estimated 1.6 million Red Cross Red Crescent

volunteers who wade through flood waters in Nigeria to help families retrieve precious belongings,

who encourage so many of their friends to become volunteers in Mauritania that they can form a

football team, who help teach fellow refugees at a camp in Tanzania how to protect themselves from

Malaria, and who use their health care skills to help others stranded by high waters in Mozambique.

You will meet some of them in this issue.

Of the Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers across Africa, approximately 63 per cent, or more than one

million, are young people. It is a reflection of the continent itself, where youth form more than half

of the population.

Youth have the skills, attitudes, and talents to inspire change. They want to be empowered. Thirty-

eight youth delegations attended the Youth Conference as a prelude to the 8th Pan African Confer-

ence in Ethiopia one year ago and produced a Youth Declaration urging their leadership to focus on

building community resilience, encouraging youth entrepreneurship, establishing strong partner-

ships, and increasing peer-to-peer education.

The leadership are listening. The Investing in Africa: Addis Ababa Plan of Action includes a commit-

ment to realize a culture of inclusion at all levels of decision making for youth representatives, as

agents of change, operationalized in national youth policies and statutes in every African National

Society.

There is progress being made. Seventy-one per cent of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies have now

developed their own National Youth Policy, which often paves the way for a youth representative on

the governing board.

For African National Societies to flourish, it is critical that we continue to tap into this incredible

resource of youth, as volunteers in our communities. For the youth of today, will become the leaders

of African National Societies in the years to come.

With my best wishes

Alasan Senghore

Edition 12, December 2013

Contents: Chan Kuar Dut is a 22 year old Restoring Family Links volunteer with the newest National Society, the South Sudan Red Cross. Read more, page 4Photo credit Juozas Cer-nius/IFRC

On the Cover

3 /Africa reportage

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies


Strategy 2020 in action

Flooding in CAmeroon

Torrential rains have returned to

northern Cameroon, causing dams to

burst, and flooding several villages.

Homes and farmland have been damaged

or destroyed, and livestock killed. Families

were forced to run for safety, and are now

living along the river banks, in desperate

need of shelter, food and health care.

The government has identified 9,000

people in need of immediate assistance.

The Cameroon Red Cross Society has de-

ployed 30 volunteers to help set up tents

and temporary shelters, and distribute

blankets, mosquito nets, and kitchen and

hygiene kits.

IFRC has also released emergency

funds to provide immediate support to

2,500 people. Using pre-positioned sup-

plies, activities are focusing on providing

shelter and non-food items to those most

vulnerable.

FloodS In SAhel

Between July and September 2013, se-

vere floods have drowned regions of many

countries across the Sahel, particularly in

Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Guinea, Mali,

Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. According

to assessments conducted by authorities

and Red Cross Red Crescent National So-

cieties, more than 300,000 people have

been affected, while thousands of oth-

ers are displaced. Houses, roads, public

infrastructure, food reserves and crops

have all been washed away. IFRC has re-

leased 270,000 Swiss francs to assist Red

Cross and Red Crescent National Societies

in bringing aid to those most severely af-

fected.

USing technology in SuDAn flooD reSponSe

The Sudanese Red Crescent Society is

using technology to support people affect-

ed by flooding. Partnering with local banks

and telecommunications companies, the

Sudanese for Sudan campaign encourag-

es residents to donate to the Red Crescent

flood response using their phones.

Heavy rains in August led to flash

flooding, leaving thousands of families

homeless. IFRC launched an emergency

appeal to support 75,000 people, and Su-

danese Red Crescent Society volunteers

and staff have been busy providing emer-

gency assistance to families through the

distribution of non-food items and health

care services. They are also conducting

health education through their mobile

and temporary health clinics in the most

affected states. To date, they have reached

more than 200,000 people.



A new National Society is bornOn 12 November 2013, the South Sudan Red Cross was of-

ficially recognized as the 189th member of IFRC. In the world’s newest country, the Movement’s newest National Society faces on-going war, internal strife, displacement and deep-rooted poverty

Malcolm lucard, editor of Red cross Red crescent magazine

From a clearing just outside the camp, people hear the screams. turning towards the commotion, they see a dozen people wearing South Sudan Red cross vests move quickly towards the scene.

As two volunteers try to calm a distraught man, two others attend to a young woman with a knife pro-truding from her stomach. A few metres away, two bodies lie face down, one motionless, the other with a long thin spear piercing her back.

People gather around wearing shocked, worried expressions. only the occasional nervous smile be-trays the fact that they know this is a simulation organ-ized by the emergency action team of the South Su-dan Red cross branch in Wau, a city in the country’s Western Bahr-el-ghazal state.

the demonstration is a graphic reminder of the violence that swept through Wau in december 2012, when two tribal factions clashed violently over a pro-posal to move the state’s governmental seat to anoth-er city. As with many of the emergencies that have hit the city in the last year — floods, fires, political violence, a plane crash — South Sudan Red cross volunteers played a critical role in treating the wounded and transporting them to local hospitals.

in this new country, which became independent from Sudan in July 2011, many people do not fully understand what this new national Society is all about. the re-enactment aims to raise aware-ness about the South Sudan Red cross and its neutral, impartial mission.

“the people will see that if there is some kind of disaster, this is the kind of first aid we can bring,” says volunteer elia Mohammed. “it is also an opportunity to show how Red cross volunteers follow the seven Fundamental Principles and help people regardless of their tribes or religions.”

Many of the bystanders were visibly moved. “to me, this play

shows that it is not human to be attacking each other,” says dor dong dor. “these kinds of things have to be prevented.”

State of complex emergency

there are a lot of demands facing the new national Society in a country dealing with multiple, overlapping emergencies: inter-national and internal conflict; tribal and criminal violence; chronic poverty and economic stagnation, as well as intermittent flooding and drought.

South Sudan has some of the lowest scores for maternal health and infant mortality, a severe shortage of trained doctors and nurs-es and one of the highest illiteracy rates among African nations. Some 90 per cent of South Sudanese live on less than 1 US dollar per day, according to the Un .

“We are operating in a complex emer-gency,” says John lobor, deputy secretary general of the South Sudan Red cross. “the needs are everywhere and this poses a challenge to the national Society. We need to prioritize in terms of what we can

and cannot do, keeping in mind the other humanitar-ian actors within the country.”

Great expectations

in this environment, the humanitarian sector is playing a critical role and the South Sudan Red cross, the newest member of the Red cross Red crescent family, is making a critical and visible dif-ference.

Already, the national Society has a lot for which to be proud. in only two short years, the national Society has worked with the Movement and gov-ernment officials to convene a general Assembly, enacted a national Red cross law, which estab-lishes its role as auxiliary to the new South Sudan

government, and launched a major volunteer recruitment drive. in July last year, with advice and support from the national Society and the Movement, the country became the latest signatory to the 1949 geneva conventions and their Additional Protocols.

For Arthur Poole, the secretary general of the South Sudan Red cross, the rapid evolution of this new national Society is profound. “For me, it is something great in my life after struggling for so long to build up the national Society,” says Poole, who worked since the early 1970s to help establish the Sudanese Red crescent in the southern part of the country.

“My dream is that in the next five years the South Sudan Red cross will first become deeply rooted in communities though its volunteer network,” says lobor, “so that people will have no doubts about its capacity to mobilize and deliver services to the people.”

Photos by: Juozas cernius/iFRc

/“We love this work of ours because what we are doing is not for one particular person but for all the people in Aweil and South Sudan, and even Africa.”/

Mary Achol Athian Athian, South Sudan Red cross volunteer

5 /Africa reportage



Kuwait Red Crescent Society in Mauritania and Senegal

in 2011, the Kuwait Red crescent Society (KRcS) donated 1.3 million Swiss francs, through iFRc, to support the Mauritanian Red crescent Society’s (MRcS) plan of action over two years. these funds are being used to build the capacity of the national Society, as well as to mitigate the cumulative effects of repeated droughts and food insecurity in the country through the implementation of a food security and nutrition programme.

thirteen women’s cooperative were supported, while seeds, technical expertise and tools were provided. in all areas where MRcS was operating, this has resulted in people having enough food to eat, malnutrition rates in children dropping, and communities being better prepared for future weather-related events. thanks to the donation, the national Society has strengthened its capacities, and is now a functioning at a higher level.

one year earlier, KRcS donated 896,900 Swiss francs in response to flooding in Senegal. Assistance included providing essential items, water, sanitation and health services, and cash to more than 10,600 affected families. credit: Aliou Boly, iFRc

Qatar Red Crescent Society in Sahel

Qatar Red crescent Society (QRcS) has more than eight years of working experience in the Sahel through disaster response activities and long-term community-based programmes in health, water and sanitation and food security. the national Society began operations in niger during the 2005 food crisis by collaborating with the niger Red cross Society in a wide variety of sectors, including food security, health, water and sanitation. in niger, QRcS implemented a food security programme with a budget of 4.2 million Swiss francs, while also constructing six water purification stations in areas affected by cholera.

during the Malian crisis, QRcS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mali Red cross Society and the local government, providing food and non-food items to people affected by conflict in northern Mali. those who fled and sought refuge in Mauritania and niger were also supported.

in Mauritania, the QRcS project includes hospital development with a budget of 2.6 million Swiss francs to develop the Sheikh hamad Ben Khalifa hospital, which includes a new operating room, dental unit, emergency unit and pharmacy.

The Red Crescent Society of United Arab Emirates in Malawi

Poor rainfall, a recurring drought and flood cycle, inflation and currency devaluation, and rising food prices in Malawi have resulted in a worsening food security situation across the country.

in october last year, nearly 2 million Malawians required humanitarian assistance to meet their basic survival needs.

the Malawi Red cross Society (MRcS), in partnership with the Malawi Presidential initiative for the Reduction of Poverty and hunger, embarked on a food distribution programme to support 4,000 people affected by floods, drought and food insecurity across the country.

Supporting this initiative was the Red crescent Society of United Arab emirates (RcSUAe), which donated over 162,000 Swiss francs to MRcS and the Presidential initiative. Personnel from RcSUAe visited the affected regions across Malawi and assisted in the implementation of the relief programme in coordination with MRcS. they also provided clothing for 10,000 children in need.

The Gulf States come to Africa

in Africa right nowA look at the key issues across the continent


Legislative elections in GuineaMoustapha Diallo, IFRC

After several delays and postponements, Guinean leg-islative elections finally took place on 28 September. Presi-dent Alpha Condé’s party, the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG), won 53 out of 114 seats, but the results have been rejected by opposition parties, raising fears that violence could again erupt in Guinea, which has a long history of political and military turmoil.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed for calm and urged the parties involved to resolve all differences by legal means.

In 2010, Alpha Condé became the first President dem-ocratically elected since Guinea’s independence in 1958. October’s parliamentary election was due to complete the long-delayed transition back to civilian rule.

Run-off elections in Madagascar

Madagascar is heading for a run-off vote on 20 Decem-ber in the first presidential elections since a military coup in 2009.

A first round of voting in October saw Richard Jean-Louis Robinson, an ally of the ousted leader, receive 21.1 per cent of the votes. His main rival, Hery Rajaonarimam-pianina, a former minister of finance, garnered 15.93 per cent of votes.

The two men have pledged to rebuild Madagascar’s economy after years of political unrest. The government overthrow in 2009 led to the international community pulling its support from the country. According to the World Bank, more than 92 per cent of the country’s popu-lation lives on less than 2 US dollars a day.

It is hoped that foreign assistance will resume follow-ing the next round of voting.

A changing political landscape

Middle East National Societies in Sudan

national Societies from the Middle east have been active in Sudan for a decade, working either with the Sudanese Red crescent Society, or under bilateral arrangements with the government of Sudan.

the iran Red crescent was the first of the Middle east national Societies to start working in Sudan in 2003, supporting the government’s health sector, initially in darfur and later in Khartoum. the iran Red crescent has trained Sudanese Red crescent staff in disaster management, first aid and health care, in addition to donating non-food items.

the Qatar Red crescent Society has also been active in Sudan, providing support in water and sanitation and health since 2009. its focus has since shifted from assisting internally displaced persons to helping returnees.

the Saudi Red crescent Authority has been supporting the government of Sudan in primary and emergency health care, ambulance services and water and sanitation in darfur since 2009.

More recently, the Red crescent Society of the United Arab emirates provided food and shelter materials to support the Sudanese Red crescent in its response to flooding that displaced over 100,000 people and caused massive destruction to property.


7 /Africa reportage



Together for action

With malaria remaining the main cause of mortality in Central African Republic (CAR), IFRC is teaming up with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to combat the deadly disease. As the princi-ple recipient of the Global Fund grant of 18.5 million Swiss francs (20.5 million US dollars), IFRC will distrib-ute more than 2 million long lasting insecticide-treated bed nets across the country over the next two and a half years, reaching more than 4 million people. “This partnership will allow us to reach every segment of the population in CAR,” said Denis Duffaut, IFRC regional representative for Central Africa. “We will also be able to better diagnosis people and provide them with stand-ard malaria treatment drugs, ensuring they receive the treatment they need. This is vital if we are to have a real effect on the malaria rate.”

Within minutes of signing a Cooperation and Part-nership Agreement in early October, IFRC and the Afri-can Development Bank (AfDB) were discussing ways of making the Agreement come to life.

The Agreement outlines areas of cooperation, in-cluding health care and HIV, disaster risk reduction (DRR), food security, climate change, youth empower-ment, and capacity building.

“The Bank’s mission is to enhance development and growth in Africa, but we can only achieve this objec-tive with healthier, stronger and resilient communities. The Red Cross Red Crescent is a credible and important partner in helping us achieve this goal,” said Donald Ka-beruka, AfDB President.

The Bank has already approved 1.2 billion US dol-lars for famine and drought resilience and development programming in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. It also

provided 1 million US dollars to support an IFRC emer-gency appeal during flooding in Comoros in 2012. It is keen to further that partnership through direct fund-ing in areas of resilience and DRR, especially in fragile states, such as Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, So-mali, South Sudan and Sudan.

ifrC receives grant to combat malaria in conflict stricken Central African Republic

ifrC signs partnership agreement with African development Bank


humanitarian diplomacy in action

8% percentage of African households with a computer

735 million The number of people in Africa who own a mobile phone

138,347 The number of people who follow Kenya Red Cross on Twitter

African National Societies: From implementers to negotiatorsDiego Sanchez, former IFRC humanitarian diplomacy delegate

As part of the draft global humanitarian diplomacy plan of IFRC, quiet diplomacy and persuasion with decision makers and opinion leaders is being conducted across the Af-rican continent. Since late 2012, through a select group of African National Societies (ANS), humanitarian diplomacy (HD) practice promoted by IFRC has focused on enhanc-ing long-term relationships with local counterparts in a joint decision-shaping dynamic, contributing to building the capacity of National Societies to mitigate the risks of disas-ters in conformity with in-country rules and regulations.The selected African National Societies included three from the Sahel region (Cape Verde, Gambia and Senegal) and two from East Africa (Burundi and Rwanda). During the course of the pilot project, the five National Societies were presented as negotiators as well as implementers, being able to now encourage other stakeholders to speak the humanitarian language.After receiving seed funding, the five National Societies undertook initiatives which fo-cused on the various layers of persuasion with decision-makers via person-to-person; and with decision-shapers via media and professional circles. The general public was also targeted through mass media campaigns on Red Cross Red Crescent action for the vulnerable. Such initiatives showed how credibility and rationality are the primary prin-ciples in the ANS leaderships’ ability to persuade and affect change.These National Societies are now involved in decision-making mechanisms to ensure decisions are not taken unilaterally by government. Meetings and agreements reached are the podiums from which National Societies will stand as leading stakeholders to maintain alignment with the general public. The beneficiaries of the IFRC HD rollout action in Africa are the leaders of African Na-tional Societies, more specifically top managers and governance members. Engaging in successful bilateral negotiation is part of the skill set gained by National Society staff while aligning opinion leaders and setting milestones for further fundraising. This goes to improve the image of the organization and clearly defines responsibilities/obligations of different actors.The pilot project has now wrapped up. Going forward, Africa zone will share similar initiatives and challenges of implementation with other National Societies, as sharing is a key component of Humanitarian Diplomacy in Action and is essential in the analysis of humanitarian diplomacy trends. The hope is that ANS can take the lead in humani-tarian processes within their own specific contexts after having engaged in successful bilateral negotiations with other actors.

Diary

1 December World AIDS Day

2 - 10 December Community Early Warning Systems training Gambia

5 DecemberWorld Volunteer Day

5 – 13 DecemberNational Disaster Response TrainingCentral African Republic 7 – 11 DecemberInternational Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, South Africa

12 - 15 December Disaster response training, heads of disaster management units at Sahel National Societies Guinea Conakry

January 2014Joint launch of World Disasters Report with African UnionEthiopia

IFRC’s World Disasters Report 2013 ‘Focus on technology and the future of humanitarian action’ was launched in October. It examines how technologies can help put communities at the centre of humanitarian action, and considers the challenges and limitations, particularly in developing continents such as Africa. Below, some current data from sub-Saharan Africa.

9 /Africa reportage


Working together

5% The percentage of women in Benin who use the internet

11% The percentage of people in Cameroon who have an email address

Beneficiary communications boot camp

6.6 million The number of SMS sent by Sierra Leone Red Cross over six months, with messages of health and oncoming storms

More than 80 people from Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world gathered in Sri Lanka for the first global IFRC beneficiary communications boot camp. Its goal was to highlight the ways National Societies can mainstream beneficiary communications and community engagement throughout the programme cycle, so it does not exist as a stand alone programme.

“Beneficiary communication is about providing time-ly and life-saving information, having two-way dialogue with communities, and most importantly, allowing com-munities to drive their own recovery,” said Will Rogers, IFRC Beneficiary Communications Global Coordinator.

Using hands-on training and simulation exercises, par-ticipants engaged with a variety of communication meth-ods, including SMS, television, radio, social media, and face-to-face discussions, in an effort to learn more about

the technologies available to them.

The Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) launched its beneficiary communications programme in 2012, fol-lowing a cholera outbreak that killed 300 people and af-fected 23,200 others. Using context-appropriate commu-nication methods such as mobile cinema, community drama, loudspeakers, SMS and a live radio talk show, Red Cross staff and volunteers promoted messages on how people could protect themselves from cholera. “As a re-sult, we have only one reported death due to cholera this year,” said Abu Bakkarr Tarawallie, Director of Com-munications, SLRCS. “This programme works because we get feedback from the people we send messages to. We have short codes they can use, and can then tailor our programming to match the realities of what is happening on the ground.”

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Yacouba MaigaMali Red cross Society

My name is yacouba Maiga. i am 31 years old and i come from gao, in northern Mali. our village was attacked by insurgents who destroyed almost everything. they burned down houses, stole belongings and killed people. i fled the violence and now live in Sévaré, in Mopti region, in central Mali.

When i came back to my village, i discovered in me a huge need to help my community, bigger than ever before. i have since become a Red cross volunteer and am part of the volunteer teams in Mopti who provide first aid to people and evacuate those who are sick to health facilities.

We work tirelessly to accommodate the displaced, provide them comfort and ensure they have shelter in schools and other administrative buildings. given the deterioration of sanitary facilities and precarious hygiene conditions due to overcrowding in these temporary housing sites, we also organize awareness raising cam-paigns about hygiene, provide drinking water and organize dem-onstration sessions on water treatment. Food and essential items including tents, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, soap, kitchen sets are also handed out.

the needs of displaced populations and host families remain enormous. living conditions are poor. Many are still traumatized from what they have witnessed and wait for better security guar-antees before returning home. health is also a biggest concern in our communities. We have river blindness, diarrhoea and cholera because of poor hygiene, lack of wells and latrines.

With the little we have, we get by. We have to work hard to

strengthen our communities and not always expect external help. “charity begins at home”, as they say. this is how i see my mission as a Red cross volunteer.

‘We love this work’

“We love this work of ours because what we are doing is not for one particular person but for all the people in Aweil, in South Sudan and even Africa,” says Mary Achol Athian Athian, a volunteer at the South Sudan Red cross branch in Aweil, a city of roughly 150,000 in northern Bahr-el-ghazal state.

Mary is just one of nearly a dozen branch volunteers who often walk, or ride bikes, for many hours to their field work because the branch has only one motorized vehicle.

22-year-old chan Kuar dut, a Restoring Family links volunteer often spends days in the bush, riding his bike along bumpy roads

and narrow footpaths, in efforts to reconnect separated families or to assess the needs of displaced people. “they are very unlucky,” he says. “they are in need of hospital care, medicine and shelter.”

like several of the national Society’s newer branches, the Aweil branch has little infrastructure, equipment and support to of-fer volunteers. its headquarters has no run-ning water, radio for communications with field teams, electricity, computer, internet access or latrine. despite the limitations, volunteers are able to pull off amazing re-sults, promoting hygiene, offering first aid, building water points, and distributing food or non-food items to thousands of people in extremely vulnerable communities.

in a country dealing with internal strife, lawlessness, little infrastructure, and on-going war along its northern border face, there are often many challenges. “the most important thing is just to be neutral,” says volunteer Peter geng. “Wherever we go, we always talk to people about the principles of neutrality and impartiality, that we don’t take sides and that we’ve come to help everybody.”

By following the principles, says 31-year-old volunteer Philip An-drew lino, volunteers can visit extremely impoverished camps, with limited amounts of aid, and carry out peaceful distributions. “When we explain the Principles — and do things openly, in accordance with the Principles — there is no grabbing and no quarreling during the distribution lines. things go smoothly.”

Still not everyone understands the volunteers’ mission. Some-times, army personnel block Red cross vehicles, and some com-munities affected by war and inter-communal violence, can be dis-trustful. “We have to build trust,” notes volunteer Abraham yelwek. “if we go abruptly into the community, they might even think we are an enemy.”

What keeps the volunteers going? “When the distribution is done correctly and people who really need the aid are served, that makes me feel good; that’s my motivation,” says geng. For 22-year-old volunteer Sunday Acheer, a recent hygiene promotion where all people in the community listened attentively was particu-larly satisfying. “When people understand the message and take it seriously i feel very happy and motivated.”

every human being is born with the energy to help their community,” adds lino. “this is why i am energized to help all humanity, not just in South Sudan but for everyone in the whole


Celebrating Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers


wide world. i will even go to europe and help!”Read more about the iFRc’s newest member, the South Sudan

Red cross Society at: http://www.redcross.int/en/mag/index.html

Daniel Fallah Kamara-James Sierra leone Red cross

it was 1978 and i was six years old when i first saw members of the Sierra leone Red cross. they had come to my primary school to take part in a community cleaning exercise. Many of my class-mates were wearing white shirts for the event. At that young age, i was able to recognize that a lot of the Red cross work focused on

community health and i liked that. i also liked the white attire and be-came interested in joining the Red cross. in fact, i enrolled later that same year and became officially enrolled in 1992. Since, then 21 years later, and i am still a proud volunteer!

during that time, i took part in emergency first aid training, and was appointed youth leader. i cur-rently volunteer in the community-based health programme and dis-aster management programmes in the Western Area branch. i help train other volunteers in community-

based health and first aid, diarrhoea management and prevention, and water and sanitation.

during the eleven year civil war, i was in Freetown as part of the first aid action team, deployed in the eastern part of the city. i was never displaced by the war because i was with the Red cross most of the time, moving from one war zone to the other, rescu-ing, recovery and evacuating casualties to referral hospitals. i did have one frightening experience though when vigilante groups kid-napped me while i was rushing a casualty that i had given first aid to, to hospital. they accused me and the Red cross of collaborating with the rebels, a misconception of the Red cross role in delivering assistance to all.

that is one of the reasons why i keep volunteering. i wish to help spread knowledge about the Red cross to those who want to know about the Red cross but who do not have that opportunity at the moment. But, i also wish to reach the most vulnerable who do not have access to information on health related issues, and eventually use my skills to become a medical professional so i can contribute to reducing the high rate of deaths due to preventable diseases.

Violette Lakulu Nkwewa national trainer and coordinator of the women's brigade democratic Republic of the congo Red cross Society

ever since she was a young girl, lakulu nkwewa Violette was in-spired by her older brother’s involvement in the Red cross. “i loved the group of young volunteers he belonged to,” she recalls. “they were always together. Sometimes they argued but then they made up. on the field, they all spontaneously brought relief to victims, mostly related to car accidents.

“this fostered a desire in me to also join; a desire which was re-inforced when i saw volunteers bring relief to a person who seemed old, fallen and abandoned,” adds Violette. “they washed him and

the victim recovered. he was not actually an old man, but rather a young one, weakened by disease. this gesture really moved me and strengthened my conviction to become a volunteer rescuer.”

Violette joined as a junior volunteer at the age of 11, was trained in basic emergency response, and over the years continued to im-prove her skills and expand her knowledge. “Some people were surprised that a woman could serve as a rescue volunteer, but i always told them that volunteering or rescuing was not restricted to men.”

now, at the age of 47, she has 36 years experience with the Red cross and serves as a national trainer and coordinator of the women's brigade for the city-province of Kinshasa. She is very proud of her national Society, particularly its work regarding help-ing child soldiers and children from the street. “Many children have become useful to society; they finished their university studies and work,” she says.

“i am also proud of the first aid volunteers, especially the wom-en, who have always been the first ones to arrive on the scene of an accident.”

her toughest moment as a volunteer came when she was taken hostage by the former child soldiers that she was supervising. “the children were complaining that they hadn’t received any financial support to enable them to resume normal life, so they offloaded their frustration onto me, taking me hostage for more than 24 hours to put pressure on the Red cross to meet their needs. As i was on good terms with them, they didn’t do anything wrong to me. i used my powers of persuasion until the authorities of the Red cross came to release me.”

While proud of the work done by the democratic Republic of congo Red cross Society, Violette says there are areas where the national Society can improve. “We must strengthen the capacity of our national Society to respond to disasters,” provide volunteers with adequate equipment and training, and find resources to offer people a desperately needed ambulance service.

While Violette feels the Movement generally takes good care of its volunteers, she says it could do more to ensure that all actors in a country’s conflict know that the activities carried out by the Red cross are for the benefit of all and that volunteers must be pro-tected. “neither the emblem of the Red cross nor the humanitarian work is respected,” she says. “People are starting to understand a little, but there is still a great deal of education to do.”

credit: Aapo huhta/iFRc

11 /Africa reportage




voluntary service

it was through gister Kampamba’s work with the government of Zambia that he became familiar with the Red cross. he was the of-ficer in charge of providing agricultural advice to gardeners farming along the banks of the Zambezi River, in partnership with the Zambia Red cross Society (ZRcS), iFRc and the government.

impressed by the work of ZRcS, gister decided to extend his part-nership with the Red cross by becoming a volunteer two years ago. training to become a volunteer was quite different from gister’s agricultural expertise, but just as important and interesting. “even though the training was different from anything i had done before, it was interesting, especially learning to become a peer educator. i have become like a councillor. this has been a unique and over-whelming experience and it has had such an important impact on people’s lives.

“Since i have become a volunteer, i have really enjoyed the interac-tion i have with people. i find that i am never alone. People know i am a Red cross volunteer and because of this they come to my house for help, advice or just to talk. i am surprised at how much i like this kind of work.”

gister says this has made him become a real part of the community, to which he is relatively new. “i only moved to this part of Zambia when i got this job two years ago. it has been a very good way to connect and get to know people. this is a reason i would tell people to become part of the Red cross.”

But he says if someone is considering volunteering, their motivation needs to be right. “First, when we talk about being a volunteer, it must be known that volunteers do this without expecting anything in return. We do this just to give and just to help. there is nothing that you get, you just help. i would encourage people to volunteer. Volunteering is something that comes from the heart.”

credit: hanna Butler, iFRc

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Edition 2, February 2011

for more information, or to suggest an item for a future issue, please contact:

ifrC Africa communications manager

Katherine MuellerIFRC Communications Manager, AfricaTel: +251 930 03 3413 Email: [email protected]

www.ifrc.orgSaving lives, changing minds.

Gister Kampamba, Zambia Red Cross Society

Documents

#12 Africa reportage - IFRC.org Reportage... · Photo credit Juozas Cer-nius/IFRC On the Cover. 3 / Africa reportage International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies