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Red Cross Connects Brothers Separated by Ongoing Conflict in Sudan
Kelly Hurd, Special to RedCross.org
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 — ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The American Red Cross of Alaska recently helped connect local Anchorage resident Tor Gach with his brother, who lives in a refugee camp in Ethiopia through the delivery of a Red Cross Message to Gach's home.
Originally from Sudan, Tor Gach lost contact with his brother more than a year ago, having received no replies to the multiple letters he sent. Gach expressed great pleasure in receiving news from his brother that he and his family were safe.
“I was so surprised to get this message from my brother,” said Gach. “When I saw the Red Cross vehicle drive up, I was a bit nervous. In our country, when the Red Cross arrives I know that they are bringing important information. Most of my family lives in areas of armed conflict, and I was fearful that they [the Red Cross] were bringing me bad news about my family.”
Gach indicated that the last time he saw his family was when he visited them in Ethiopia in March 2005. Since then, he had no additional contact with them.
“I had written my brother several times over the past year, but I never heard anything back,” said Gach. “I wasn’t sure if my brother was even receiving my messages, but I had no way to find out."
Upon receiving the Red Cross Message from his brother, Gach wrote a reply, which will be sent through Red Cross channels to his brother in the Dima Refugee Camp in Ethiopia.
“I lived in a refugee camp for many years, and I know that life there is very hard,” Gach said.
Fleeing Civil Unrest
When Tor Gach was only five years old, his family fled the brutality inflicted by the civil war in Sudan after their home was burned and numerous people in their village were killed. At six years old, Gach lost his own father to the conflict.
After a period of living in refugee camps in Ethiopia, Gach's family found themselves forced from the country when civil war erupted there, too. Assaults by hostile forces, starvation and attacks by wild animals killed thousands on their bitter journey back to Sudan. At age 13, Gach left his family and escaped with his cousin to Kenya in search of a better life.
“I left my home, my family, everything I knew to try to find safety,” said Gach.
In Kenya, Gach sought political asylum. Later, in 1994, he moved to the United Sates, where he was soon joined by his wife and children. Gach and his family lived in Omaha, Neb., where he earned his B.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska.
Six months ago the Gach family relocated once again—this time to Anchorage, Alaska—where Gach followed an employment opportunity that will assist him in getting his Master’s in Criminal Justice. Prior to his move, friends cautioned Gach about the coldness and darkness of Alaska. Gach wasn’t easily deterred.
“I’ve been to many different, dangerous places—let me check out this place,” he said. The chance Gach took on this new place has paid off; the family is very happy living in Alaska. “The people have been so friendly; we really like it here.”
Red Cross International Tracing and Messaging Services
In accordance with the Geneva Conventions and as a member of the worldwide Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, the American Red Cross provides tracing and messaging services. Tracing assistance is a service that is provided through Red Cross channels globally to re-establish communication between people in communities in the United States and their immediate family members who are citizens and residents of other countries when war, civil disturbance or natural disaster has caused them to lose contact. In some cases messages can be sent and received as well.
During the last two years, the American Red Cross relayed nearly 4,000 messages to and from detainees, POWs, refugees, persons displaced within their own countries and their relatives. On average, the American Red Cross of Alaska delivers five Red Cross Messages each year.
“Although the Red Cross Messages handled annually number only in the thousands, the value of those messages to loved ones connected through them is immeasurable,” said Carol L. Miller, an American Red Cross spokesperson for International Services at the organization’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. “We’re not just delivering pieces of paper with words on them, the Red Cross is bringing hope and peace of mind to families desperate for information about their loved ones.”
The majority of the work surrounding the service—which includes searching databases, case management and message delivery—is done through American Red Cross volunteers. Red Cross volunteer Nancy Barros, of Juneau, Alaska, coordinates the Alaska Red Cross Tracing and Messaging program; the message to Tor Gach was delivered by Red Cross volunteer Michele Weston and Zoe Craig, an AmeriCorps team member serving with the Red Cross. The volunteers describe their work with these programs as extremely gratifying.
“It was incredible to deliver this message which came from so far away,” said Craig. “Tor was so excited to receive this news from his brother. Here in the U.S., we take for granted how easy it is to communicate. We have telephones, e-mail and cell phones when we want to reach out to our loved ones. This isn’t the case in so many other parts of the world.”
Barros added that more work needs to be done to let people in need know about this valuable service.
“Folks from around the world call Alaska home, and I’m sure that more folks would utilize these services if they knew they were available to them,” said Barros. “We hope that Tor’s story will help spread the word about available Red Cross services.”
People who have questions or would like to learn more about this or other Red Cross services should contact their local American Red Cross chapter.
Receiving Word, Finding Comfort
For Gach, solace came in an unexpected form when, after years without answers, he received the Red Cross Message from his brother. Now Gach finds comfort in the fact that the organization offers an effective means of communication to reach his family members.
“I feel good knowing that I can use the Red Cross to communicate,” he said. “This is an easy way to correspond. This way I know that he will get my message—unlike before, where he never received the letters that I sent him.”
Kelly Hurd is the Community Relations Manager for the American Red Cross of Alaska chapter in Anchorage.
About the American Red Cross of Alaska
Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross of Alaska is dedicated to saving lives and helping Alaskans prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Led by over 1,500 volunteers and 27 employees, last year the American Red Cross of Alaska mobilized relief to over 1,050 Alaskans affected by disaster, trained over 32,000 people in lifesaving skills, taught over 78,500 Alaskans how to be better prepared for disasters, and exchanged more than 4,100 emergency messages for U.S. military service personnel and their families. For more information about the American Red Cross of Alaska, please visit our website at www.alaska.redcross.org.
About the American Red Cross
As part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the American Red Cross alleviates the suffering of victims of war, disaster and other international crises, and works with other Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to improve chronic, life-threatening conditions in developing nations. We reconnect families separated by emergencies and educate the American public about international humanitarian law. This assistance is made possible through the generosity of the American public.
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