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Logisticians join Movement’s relief work

Two British Red Cross logisticians are flying to Cyprus on Wednesday (2 August) to join the relief operation in the Middle East.

John Cunningham (55) from Bristol and Dan Sanger (45) from Gloucestershire, will be working from the logistics base in Larnaca, set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

John Cunningham"I’m really looking forward to helping with the relief effort and hopefully will be able to make a difference to a lot of people,” said John, who works as a Red Cross warehouse manager in Warmley.

John has a wealth of experience working in conflict zones such as Rwanda and Somalia, as well as responding to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina last year.

Dan worked as a logistician following the Boxing Day tsunami and also the Pakistan earthquake last October.

The ICRC is leading the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s response in Lebanon and Israel. The Red Cross is one of the few organisations able to operate in the areas affected by the conflict, which, according to government reports, has claimed at least 800 lives in Lebanon and Israel alone in the last three weeks.

The Movement is uniquely placed to respond to the crisis as it has national societies across the region. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is focusing on the humanitarian needs in the neighbouring countries to the crisis.

The families arriving here are, in most cases, destitute. Frightened children, old, sick people, and tired women still dressed in their nightgowns.

Jihad, Syrian Arab Red Crescent

More than 700,000 people have fled their homes since the violence escalated on 12 July. Approximately 150,000 Lebanese have crossed the border into Syria where the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has been working around the clock to support those displaced and often destitute.

Jihad, a Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer said he is always being confused for the Lebanese Red Cross: “We answer: “We are from the Syrian Red Crescent and we play the same role that the Lebanese Red Cross plays, but here in Syria. We all belong to the same Movement.”Syrian volunteers helping little girl
Jihad has been helping families at the Dabbousia border point in Syria.

“The families arriving here are, in most cases, destitute,” he said. “Frightened children, old, sick people, and tired women still dressed in their nightgowns.

“Children who are wearing only one shoe or the shoes of others, which are invariably too wide for their tiny feet. Families, of whom only half the members succeeded in fleeing. When they see us, they feel a little comforted. We provide them with water, food, emergency medicines and psychological support.” 
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