 |
Search : | ||
|
|||
News
|
News stories
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 February 2001 by Bijoy Patro in Bhuj The devastating earthquake that hit India on January 26, killed tens of thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The international response was immediate. Little is known about the reaction of the local population. Beyond desolation, the disaster revealed an impressive solidarity between the people of India. Thirty-year-old Siva Rami Reddy was eager to reach Gujarat after he heard a report quoting Didier Cherpitel, the Federation Secretary General as saying that many earthquake victims still remained in need of help more than a week after the disaster had struck. It is a generous move as Reddy, a life member of the Indian Red Cross from the south Indian State of Andhra Pradesh, had to spend nearly 10 US dollars to reach Bhuj. That represents one quarter of his monthly salary of 43 US dollars as a tutor. Now settled at the Red Cross field camp, he leaves very early each day to distribute blankets and tarpaulin sheets to those left homeless by the earthquake. "Lunch is a rare thing in the midst of a distribution and often we return late in the night. We are all exhausted. But there is a deep satisfaction in all of us," Reddy says. He is just one of the two million volunteers registered with Indian Red Cross. Like many others, he left his normal life back home to be part of the massive relief effort undertaken by the Indian Red Cross and the Federation. Reddy and other volunteers understand better then anyone the distress of the earthquake victims. They know too well what it is to work under the scorching sun by day and sleep without a roof over their heads on a cold winter night. The Indian Red Cross camp at Bhuj currently houses about 250 volunteers. Since the earthquake, about 750 have been involved in the earthquake operation. Among them are physicians, surgeons, nurses and paramedics whose services are utilised for the joint Norwegian-Finish field hospital in Bhuj. Other volunteers do all sorts of jobs from loading trucks, attending to unaccompanied patients in the Red Cross hospital, interpreting for expatriate doctors or even cooking in the kitchen that supplies the meals for all the patients and volunteers at the compound. Because of fatigue or their commitments at home some of the volunteers can work in the disaster area for a few days only. Although they are earthquake victims in need of help themselves, Gujarat volunteers have helped wherever they could. "It is tough work here. All these volunteers get for their hard work is a letter of appreciation. Even the train fares to and from Bhuj has to be paid out of their own pockets, " says Dr. Gandhimathi, deputy secretary of the Indian Red Cross heading the organisation's operations at Bhuj. For those who couldn't travel the distance, volunteering meant donating blood at the Red Cross blood banks throughout the country. The enthusiasm for volunteering is contagious. The idea of what the Red Cross stands for and the example given during the emergency phase had a growing appeal. Eighteen-year-old Sumit Shah rushed to Gujarat to help distribute emergency relief goods to earthquake victims, from his home state of Haryana. In a few days' time, he is due to take some very important exams. But instead of being at home revising, he is in Bhuj working as an Indian Red Cross volunteer. "The most important thing is to help people here now," Sumit says as he unloads a family tent at a distribution point. Many Indian Red Cross staff and volunteers were either killed, injured or deeply affected by the devastating quake. Help of people like Sumit, and others who have come from all over the country, has proved invaluable. An experience he says he would willingly repeat should another disaster hit India. For Anoop Sharma, a young doctor who left his home town of Hissar in Haryana in northern India and who has been working at the Red Cross field hospital for more than ten days, the experience has been a revelation. "After seeing the work of the delegates of the Red Cross at such proximity and working with them in treating earthquake victims, I want to join the Red Cross. When I go back to my town, I am going to enrol as a Red Cross member," he says. Related links India/Gujarat earthquake request for assistance More news and reports on Federation operation in India Make a donation |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
