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Mexican Red Cross Helps Katrina Survivors
Written by
Sara O’Brien
, Special to Redcross.org
Thursday, September 22, 2005 — HOUSTON – At the Houston Chapter office of the American Red Cross, every nook and cranny is filled with people and luggage – 20 men line the sides of the hallway, waiting to register. They’re not evacuees; they’re waiting to register as Red Cross volunteers to assist in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
“Group number five,” someone calls and the men quickly enter the orientation room. They’re given maps, debit cards and local cell phones, and then they’re off to the George R. Brown Convention Center to meet Hurricane Katrina survivors.
This scene has been repeated for days, but what is different about this group is that they are visiting from the Mexican Red Cross society. This is the first time in the organization’s history that the American Red Cross requested a team from the Mexican society to work with Spanish-speaking disaster victims. Leonardo Aceves, a member of the team, indicated that they were surprised to receive the call but happy to help.
In Mexico, Red Cross disaster relief volunteers – like their U.S. counterparts – take time off from their jobs when deployed to support disaster response efforts. These 20 volunteers came from different cities throughout the country, including Mexico City and Aguascaliente, Mexico, and Baja, Calif. They will stay for 21 days, and although they have not worked together before, with the same training, they will quickly form a cohesive team.
With such a large population impacted by Hurricane Katrina, the American Red Cross has called upon its fellow Red Cross society from Mexico to help them in meeting the needs of Spanish-speaking evacuees. (Photo Credit: Sara O'Brien/American Red Cross) |
The team is gathering information from Spanish-speaking evacuees and also will answer questions about American Red Cross disaster assistance and offer information related to housing and jobs. The evacuees have been responding with deep thanks to the men.
“All the people of Houston give thanks to us for coming,” said Aceves. “The other day we were out to dinner and when we went to pay the bill, the cashier told us a gentleman had already paid our bill for us in thanks for our work.”
Aceves said that the Mexican Army also delivered some 80 tons of humanitarian aid – in the form of food, water and clothing – from the Mexican Red Cross to the hurricane-affected areas to help meet the urgent needs of storm survivors.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Midwest ice storms, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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