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14 December 2000 "I am always amazed when I see the final result: a glass of clean, transparent water coming from muddy polluted water," says Nikola Angelovski, a 22-year old Macedonian Red Cross volunteer who has just been trained to operate a water purification unit. The unit was originally used by a German Red Cross hospital in a refugee camp at Stenkovec during the Kosovo crisis last year, and has now been donated to the Macedonian Red Cross. Water is a priority need in any emergency. These purification units are self-contained units which purify raw water through chemicals and filters to World Health Organization standards, and also provide storage and distribution of water to beneficiaries through storage tanks, pipes and taps. This unit can process 70,000 to 100,000 litres of clean purified water in 8 to 10 hours, enough to supply large populations, and their livestock if necessary. An in-built laboratory constantly checks the quality of the water. To train the Macedonian Red Cross workers and volunteers on the use of the unit, the German Red Cross recently organized a week-long workshop in the city of Veles in central Macedonia. As part of their training, the participants had to install the unit in a park alongside the Vardar river, a moderately polluted river running through the Vardar valley. All 30 participants, who came from the Skopje and other Red Cross branches in Macedonia, slept in tents next to the plant to simulate real life in a refugee camp. "All steps of the process, from setting up the filters and running the operation right through to closing it down and packing it for storage were accomplished by the trainees, which is the only way we can understand what it is really all about," explains Nikola. Thanks to the workshop, Nikola and two fellow volunteers from the Macedonian Red Cross, Dejan Dimitrovski and Cvetan Bogeski, are now qualified to train people on the water purifiation unit. All three volunteers were involved with water purification in the Stenkovic refugee camp during the Kosovo crisis. "I am very happy that we trained these people as they are now ready to act as soon as a disaster strikes," says Ali Samet, disaster preparedness coordinator at the Macedonian Red Cross. "I hope we will be able to train people from all countries in the Balkan region as this is the only way to have Red Cross workers and volunteers prepared for quick deployment in the event of disasters anywhere in the region," he adds. The water purification unit will remain stored in Macedonia, ready to be used whenever a disaster or crises strikes in this or any neighbouring country. |
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Nicola
and his fellow volunteers are now qualified to train people on the
water purification unit. 
