Saving Lives in Emergencies

As a city dweller in peace, it is hard for us to imagine being in an environment ravaged by war or under the imminent threat of death every day. But in Syria, war and disaster are a fact of daily existence. People have no choice but to flee for their lives. They are homeless, deprived of education and medication, with basic necessities and food for survival now becoming luxuries. Who wouldn't be in despair facing this plight? The Hong Kong Red Cross is planning to dispatch a team of trained health medical volunteers to Syria, Jordan and Lebaonon for humanitarian relief. Can you offer your help to our humanitarian works?

Here in Hong Kong, situations like war may seem very distant, but accidents and natural disasters can strike at any time. Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) has been committed for years to provide humanitarian services. Apart from helping refugees inwar-ravaged countries, we also provide aid to local people affected by fire, typhoons or other natural disaster, emergencies and incidents. At present, we are raising HK$2 million for the professional training of our Health Emergency Response Unit (“HERU”), which provides humanitarian help not only to people in crisis such as the Syrian refugees, but also to those affected by disasters worldwide. The fund will also enable us to develop and maintain our humanitarian services more effectively, namely the Home-based Chronic Disease Management Service, the youth leaders training scheme, and other local emergency relief services that bring hope to the distressed.

100,000 people have been killed in the conflict raging throughout the country, and at least half a million more have been wounded. Since 2012, a further 2.7 million people have fled Syria, seeking refuge in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Thousands more families have left for countries further afield.

Building a new life across the desert

Just like many other Syrian refugees, Hassan and Rima, a couple with 5 children had no choice but to live in the brutal war. Would their future be filled with uncertainties? Or even unreachable?

“We used to live in a village near Homs. We left after armed men came and tried to take everyone in the local villages,” Rima recalled her nightmare. “Men came to the house, they attacked me. The men damaged everything inside my house, then the house itself.” The conflict dramatically subjected their five children to the horrors of war. Anya^*, their middle daughter, keeps silent after witnessing their house being burnt down. Their son Bilal^* has a bedwetting issue since then.

Their run to Dera’a was torturous. Due to the fightings near the border, they had to wait there for four months before making the final part of their journey. Eventually Rima, who by this time was heavily pregnant, had to make the journey without Hassan because of his injury. She took their children with her, and spent six days in a desert trying but failing to reach the border. Ultimately they made it, but by then Rima had gone into labour. She gave birth to her fifth child Adil^* on the border in a field hospital.

them coupons for bread, milk and gas to support their basic living. Their children attend the psycho-social project in Amman and play with other children there. The peer support relieves their distress from war.

Millions of Syrian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries in order to survive. When they reach a new place successfully, they don't have much property left and hence need support for food, drugs and daily necessities. This large-scale population migration also causes massive societal pressure in neighbouring countries, which surfaces in the long term and requires aid for instant food and medical care from other countries.

Health Emergency Response Units: A key to disaster response

disaster scenarios so that they could learn HERU standard operation procedures and treatment protocols. The training equips volunteers with skills applying to on-site disaster relief work from setting up tents, purifying water, preparing for psychological readiness, building teams, learning local cultures and many more. These skills serve both to make rescue work more efficient, and also to keep the volunteers safe.

Critical moment to expand our disaster response services

A timely response to unexpected emergencies

While a distant war raises an alarm to humanitarian crisis, local disasters also call for our attention. Since its establishment in 1950, the HKRC Local Disaster Relief Team has offered assistance to local people affected by fire hazards, typhoons and other natural disasters or emergency incidents, providing daily necessities to meet their immediate needs.

even have mattresses, we started distributing relief supplies immediately, such as shampoo, body wash, clothes, and cotton duvets to give them warmth on that cold winter night,” said Peter, who served voluntarily for over a decade deeply shares how disaster victims felt. “These people lost their homes and were extremely anxious about the upcoming Chinese New Year. Some sought for immediate psychological support or referrals to other services. A chronically ill granny had just visited her doctor in the mainland. Unfortunately, she lost not only her medicine but also her identity document in the fire. Apart from providing emotional support, we also contacted the Immigration Department and other relevant authorities to assist her.”

Peter had to cancel his visit to the flower market and sacrifice his leave time to join the team to help others that day but he believed it was worth it. “It was November 2011. We were summoned three times within a day and operated for over 20 hours. Early in the morning, we received a call from HKRC staff to support the relief of the Fa Yuen Street fire hazard. Dashing to the community centre, we offered daily necessities and psychological support services to the people who suffered. Then in the chilling night, we were out again after a short break in response to another emergency call in Sham Shui Po. Our team continued to help and distributed relief supplies such as mattresses to the homeless people.” Peter was preoccupied all the way from providing supplies through understanding the victims’ needs, to offering appropriate assistance and relieving their stress. Though feeling exhausted, Peter realized the importance of immediate assistance in the face of unexpected disasters, even in a developed city like Hong Kong.

A call for help waiting to be answered

of HK$500 can also help us acquire more clothes, cotton duvets, towels and other daily necessities, as well as conduct training to volunteers.

Your kindness and support can bring hope to helpless hazard victims. Although the Local Disaster Relief Team is partially sponsored by the Social Welfare Department, due to inflation we are in need of more sponsorships and funding to continue our services.

My dear friend, your generous support can help us continue our emergency relief and humanitarian services in Hong Kong and even around the world. Please kindly donate a gift of HK$500, HK$800 or HK$1,000 online or by downloading the donation form. The donation would be for:

• supporting the training of Health Emergency Response Unit;
• supplying family kits for local disaster victims;
• training our volunteers to be local Disaster Relief Ambassadors like Peter; and conducting our various humanitarian services including special education, youth development project, psychological support service, disaster relief and preparedness, etc.

Before signing off, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude once again for all your kind support. For inquiries, please feel free to contact us via secretarygeneral@redcross.org.hk

^*names have been changed