Sladjana Dimic, Red Cross of Serbia, and Joe Lowry, Europe zone office
The Red Cross of Serbia continues to provide support to people affected by this month’s earthquake, which hit the city of Kraljevo, killing three people and causing widespread destruction.
The immediate relief response was funded by a grant from the International Federation’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF), and now an international appeal for the recovery phase has been launched.
Municipal services have, by and large, been restored in Kraljevo, but there is still rubble and debris on the city’s streets. The damage is visible everywhere, with over 16,000 buildings damaged and 1,500 homes rendered uninhabitable.
Volunteers and staff of the Red Cross Society of Serbia have been active from the first few hours of the disaster, and the local branch has been tasked with collecting and distributing aid. It has also more than doubled its existing soup kitchen services and has distributed hygiene kits to families that have been evacuated.
A psychosocial support programme has now begun, helping people to deal with the shock of the disaster and the impact on their lives. It’s already had a profound effect on Red Cross volunteer Ranko Demirovic who says: “We were in Kraljevo one week to help to the local Red Cross branch and to train volunteers who would be working in the field on a daily basis. Ten days after the earthquake, I felt that everybody in Kraljevo is occupied with their problems. On one side you can see people who are living normally because there is no damage in that area, and just around the corner, people are desperate and crying.
“I cannot forget one girl, four-year-old Tanja from Jarcujak, part of Kraljevo. The family house – home to a mother and three daughters – was destroyed. After the earthquake, Tanja, the youngest daughter couldn’t speak. We start playing with her and finally she start to smile. Because of that incredible moment I want to return back there to help others who maybe need me.”
The Red Cross of Serbia hopes the appeal will also bolster national fundraising efforts to mount an operation which will eventually reach 8,000 people affected by the earthquake.
“For those affected, there is no such thing as a ‘small disaster’,” said IFRC disaster manager Alberto Monguzzi, who visited the affected area shortly after the earthquake. “Of course attention moves on when the story fades from the news, but we have an obligation to keep helping those made vulnerable until they are back on their feet.”