May 8 marks World Red Cross Day.
Red Cross societies across the world will be celebrating the beginning of the Red Cross Society and honouring the man who founded the organisation.
The man in question is Henry Dunant.
He was born on May 8, 1828, in Geneva, Switzerland and died on October 10, 1910.
World Red Cross Day is celebrated on his birthday every year.
Dunant started the organisation in 1862, after he was haunted by the memory of seeing the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino, where he saw 40 000 men lying either dead or wounded.
The battle took place in 1859 in Italy.
The organisation was started with the following two ideas in mind:
- Protection of medical services caring for casualties in wartime.
- To form, in peacetime, voluntary relief societies to act as auxiliaries.
It was decided that a special emblem must be given to the organisation so that they could function on the battlefield.
In 1864 the first emblem – a red cross on a white background (the reverse of the Swiss flag) was recognised.
Today, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and the Red Crystal emblems are used.
The emblems are protective and indicative.
The Red Cross Society has seven basic principles, namely: Independence, voluntary service, unity, universality, humanity, impartiality and neutrality.
The South African Red Cross Society came into being in 1921 and its mission is to render services to prevent and alleviate human suffering and to foster human dignity in all communities by addressing the basic needs of the people in accordance with the fundamental principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
The SA Red Cross has a number of core health and care projects namely, community home based care; primary healthcare; youth peer education and training.
They also have a number of disaster management programmes, namely, disaster preparedness, disaster response and tracing.
Humanitarian values and organisational development programmes are also worked on.
Closer to home, the Germiston branch of the SA Red Cross Society was started in 1947.
It was originally had both a children’s home and an old age home.
However, due to financial constraints, the children’s home closed down, but the old age home, Elandsvallei Home for the Aged is still thriving.
The Germiston branch has a number of core projects, namely, disaster relief, care of the elderly and frail (Elandsvallei and in the Goodhope informal settlement) and training.
Training involves home-based care, first aid and disaster training.
They also do disaster preparations and relief.
“We have a disaster stock of blankets, clothing and non-perishable food which we give to the community in times of need,” said Germiston Red Cross manager Barbara Jensen.
“Any donations towards this stock of items would be greatly appreciated, especially now as winter starts and there are always more fires.”
The Germiston branch is also extremely active in training home-based care workers.
Many Red Cross students have gone on to get jobs in homes that need them.
Currently Jensen is the manager, Wendy Hahne is the matron at Elandsvallei, Jannie Potgieter (who has been involved with the society for 47 years) is the chairman of the board and Chicko Watson is the vice-chairman.
World Red Cross Day will be commemorated at the Germiston offices, as well as at the projects for the elderly.
To find out more about the Red Cross or to make a donation contact Jensen on 011 873-9009.
