American Red Cross Responds to Indonesian Earthquake
American Red Cross Responds to Indonesian Earthquake
The American Red Cross, in partnership with the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement, both based in Geneva, Switzerland, has mobilized emergency response teams to help the Indonesian Red Cross meet the needs of an estimated two hundred thousand survivors of an earthquake that rocked central Java and the city of Yogyakarta, the former Javanese capital, over the weekend.
More than four hundred Indonesian Red Cross volunteers were already on the ground when the earthquake struck, due to pre-staging for a possible eruption of nearby Mount Merapi. According to Red Cross officials, survivors need water, food, shelter, medical care, and psychosocial support in the coming days. The Red Cross has provided a field hospital, which was used in Aceh province after the Indian Ocean tsunami in late 2004, and is sending additional medical staff, supplies, and equipment to the region.
The organization, which has been in Indonesia since the tsunami struck, has also deployed workers specializing in psychosocial support and communications to Yogyakarta and has dispatched members of a joint American Red Cross/Spanish Red Cross Relief Emergency Response team to coordinate volunteers and the distribution of relief supplies.
"While American Red Cross personnel in country as part of the Tsunami Recovery Program can help with the initial quake response, funding for that program will not be used for this response," said Red Cross spokesperson Carol Miller. "We take very seriously our charge and the public trust to use the money they have contributed for its intended purpose."
“Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement Responds in Indonesia.”
American Red Cross Press Release
5/28/06.
Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Secondary Subject(s): Tsunami Relief, International Affairs/Development
Location(s): Indonesia
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