Currently, the Society is conducting orientation sessions in dissemination of fundamental principles for new volunteers. Its other current programmes include initiatives in health care, a violence prevention programme titled Be Safe for children between the ages of five and nine and an HIV/AIDS education and awareness programme.
The Society’s Be Safe programme hones in on a critical national concern, the spectre of child abuse that afflicts the Guyanese society. “We discovered that younger children were often put into situations that were not good for them. So we looked at what was already available and we found that the Canadian Red Cross had had an excellent programme called ‘Respect and Education’ and in that programme there were a number of things on ‘Be Safe’. This is a programme that teaches young children, school teachers and individuals how to differentiate between what might be a safe touch and an unsafe touch; how to keep telling someone there is a problem and to keep telling them until they can get away from the situation. We also work with the authorities to know what is in place so that we know how recommendations could be made as to how teachers or individuals can get help for a child who has been abused. We are really trying to teach children not to allow people to touch their bodies in an intimate way,” Fraser says.
As part of its initiative to train people to get this vital message across the Guyana Red Cross Society will shortly be staging its second Master Trainers training programme, among communities, teachers, social workers, health educators and Day Care Centre instructors. “The programme will include talking with children about what is safe what is not. They work with children in small groups so they understand the messages and they learn to say ‘No’.”
The Society’s Child Abuse initiatives also seeks to help groups and individuals determine the modus operandi for reporting cases of child abuse and how these are handled through the law-enforcement agencies. “This means working more closely with the Police to ensure that when reports are made they can be carried through in suitable fashion,” Fraser says.
Last year the Secretary General participated in a High Level Violence Prevention Programme in Geneva while the Society has played a prominent role in the development of a Thematic Paper on the issue.
Beyond its concern with the safety of children the Guyana Red Cross Society continues to immerse itself in other worthwhile social issues. Last year senior citizens, disabled persons and persons living with long-term ailments benefited from 14,000 meals delivered by the Society. In the process recipients also benefited from health checks and received medical supplies that they were unable to secure readily.
The Society uses various mechanisms to measure the impact of its work. Fraser told Guyana Review that recently a study was conducted by a University of Guyana researcher and that the Society also relies on feedback from its trainers. “I suppose that one would have a certain amount of effect when they know that certain disclosures are made. The children, for example, feel comfortable enough to say that something is wrong and try to get help,” she says.
The Red Cross Children’s Convalescent Home remains a highly visible symbol of the work of the organization. During last year the Home supported as many as 40 children in any given period. Most of the children who find solace and comfort there are victims of abandonment, children of parents who are substance abusers, children who are left alone at home for protracted periods, orphans of HIV/AIDS victims and children whose parents are too ill to care for them. The Society continues to receive referrals from the Georgetown Hospital Corporation, Health Clinics across the country, the Ministry of Human Services, the Guyana Police Force and various Non Governmental Organizations.
The Society’s Secretary General lists The Ministries of Education, Health, Youth Sport and Culture and UNICEF and various NGO’s including Every Child Guyana as organizations that are significantly involved in the work of the Red Cross with children. “Our goal is to reach as many children as possible,” she says.
Fraser is fulsome in her appreciation of the supporting role that the various organizations have played in helping the Red Cross to secure its objectives. “The response has been excellent. There is a request that all Nursery Schools have the training both for the teachers and the children. That has been quite successful and we are hoping that this can be done across the Caribbean with a number of other national societies. Discussions are taking place already in that regard.”
Fraser believes that part of the value of the Guyana Red Cross Society inheres in its role in disseminating worthwhile principles that can be applied in daily lives. The principles, she explains include a strict policy of anti-discrimination and political neutrality. “The Society has its own principles and values that all of us who are around have to adhere to,” she says.
In a global society that has become increasingly prone to human tragedy the Red Cross continues to play a significant role in disaster alleviation. Fraser explains that the national Red Cross societies in the region meet each year to discuss preparedness for hurricanes and other disasters. “In recent years we’ve done a lot of training through a European-funded programme that embraces disaster preparedness and the community. That is done around the world and we are all doing the same training. It means that people in communities are trained to look at their surroundings to ensure that they are undertaking projects that seek to avert disaster. What this means is that they can be called out first as community members, as members of disaster emergency response teams and as part of a national intervention team. Some of our staff and volunteers are trained at the regional level. Some of them are also trained at the global level.”
During the floods of 2005 and 2006 the Guyana Red Cross Society collaborated with the Civil Defence Commission to put its own disaster response plan in action.
“In 2005 we had a number of new people but they took up the challenge, learned on the job and got it done quickly and efficiently. We had a number of young people who went out into the field and did assessments, distributed supplies and checked afterwards to see whether what was delivered actually arrived and whether they were the right commodities for the communities. It is interesting to note in 2005 that on many occasions our volunteers would come in from the field and relate incidents to us where they felt that we should do an urgent intervention – whether it was giving supplies for babies and young children and new mothers or persons who had disabilities and perhaps were not getting the kind of attention that was needed at that time.”
The Guyana Red Cross Society currently has twenty staff members and, according to Fraser, “anywhere between 350-500 volunteers if we include the variety of people involved in the different community groups.” But there can never be such a thing too many volunteers and Fraser says that there are forms available for people who wish to apply. “What we seek to do is to match our needs with your skills and see how you can fit in since we consider very important to make sure that the volunteers do something that they enjoy doing. Right now perhaps we can use people who can help us with media awareness which you are doing. We need to do more on that and let people know exactly what we are doing. We need to let them know that our funds come in through donations and through feeding service programmes.”
Apart from its annual state subvention the Guyana Red Cross Society relies on donations, primarily from people in Guyana. “Funds are never enough,” Fraser says. “It is one of our bigger challenges. There is always need for some more financing.”
The Secretary General says that companies can secure Deeds of Covenant with the Society for which they secure tax exemptions. “We need to target more companies in order to secure those Deeds of Covenant,’ she says. Some-times we also have movie nights to help raise funds.”
When Guyana Review visited Ms. Fraser’s office the Society was conducting a training session in child development. She says that the local Red Cross also has upcoming training programmes in community-based Health and First Aid. We expect this programme to be held in Guyana from around November 9th and we are now finalizing arrangements with the Sub Regional Office in Trinidad and Tobago.”
Funding constraints have placed limits on the outreach capacity of the Red Cross and Fraser says that that this is one of the Society’s concerns. “We are fairly vibrant in Regions 1, 4 and 9 in particular. Here I must say that funding for our “Together We Can” programme through the European Union and the French Red Cross have helped us to do that outreach. How to continue that work when the funding comes to an end is an important challenge and we are currently looking at ways through which we can secure funding to do that.
For as long as the Red Cross has been in Guyana it has been operating its Meals on Wheels programme that seeks to serve people in the community who may not otherwise benefit from such a service. We need contributions in that area. It may be cash or kind. It may be food supplies that one can get in any meals programme; and we take the meals out. So there is also the need for people to take out meals in vehicles. This programme is under-funded. What is also under-funded is the Convalescent Home where we care for a number of children under the age of 5 who have to be out of their home environment on a temporary basis. Right now the Home needs a new washer and dryer and it would be a real joy if we could get two washers and a dryer.’”
J Hamer