Red Cross Helps Siberia's Most Vulnerable Populations

Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

The American Red Cross is working in Siberia to bring relief to malnourished children and other vulnerable populations.

Winter, which arrives in October and lasts nearly into June, has long set in throughout the frozen stretch of Russia's legendary Siberia. Although known for their rugged tolerance of extreme conditions, Siberians this year have experienced some of the harshest winter weather in decades, with some areas dipping to their lowest temperatures in 30 years. Unable to fill the demand for heat, power stations have caved under the pressure and many people have had to combat the fold front without a source of warmth.

Times like these are especially rough on Siberia's most vulnerable populations, said American Red Cross spokesperson Leslie Van Sant. "This population doesn't have the reserves that other populations have. So when something like this happens to their environment, it adds to their stress."

The American Red Cross has responded to some of the overwhelming needs of this struggling population since 1998, when the banking crisis and subsequent collapse of the Russian ruble following the Asian financial crisis led to widespread wage declines and an increase in poverty. Today some 40 million Russians live on less than $1 U.S. per day, according to an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies report.

The plunging temperatures can freeze rivers, immobilizing ships delivering food.

Already pushed into financial distress as a result of the Russian economic reform policies begun in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union, vulnerable populations such as single mothers, multi-children households, the elderly, the disabled and children, have born the brunt of the suffering. Government-run institutions such as orphanages and hospitals have also suffered, and many, struggling to operate on as little 30 percent of necessary budgets, are unable to provide the most basic needs.

The effects of the 1999 economic crisis hit Siberia especially hard. For a people already struggling to survive in a harsh climate, the situation nearly turned desperate. Siberia is a land vast in natural resources and beauty, yet nature has dealt it a cruel hand. The 5.2 million square mile region that makes up eastern Russia rivals top suppliers in the trades of diamonds, gold, petroleum and other natural resources, but they are virtually unreachable beneath Siberia's frozen earth, thickly coated with ice almost year round. Long, harsh winters, a short growing season and permafrost on the ground also hinder the harvest of much needed food in the region.

Relief organizations such as the Russian Red Cross were also affected by the economic situation and could do little to ease the suffering of people who were malnourished, susceptible to disease and in need of more help than ever before.

Recognizing a pending disaster emerging from the combination of economic and natural factors in Siberia, the American Red Cross launched a series of programs following the crisis. Today, as Siberians struggle to deal with what at times has been an especially severe winter, those programs remain in place to help the most vulnerable populations survive.

Frost bite is another problem that plagues the arctic region.

"The most vulnerable are more greatly affected by this disaster but fortunately, they are our primary target in a current feeding program and continue to receive American Red Cross assistance," said Ramsey Rayyis, Russia's head of delegation for the American Red Cross in Moscow.

The feeding distribution project in not only the largest American Red Cross project in Russia, it is the organization's largest feeding project worldwide. The program, valued at $15.5 million with support from the United States Department of Agriculture, is helping supplement a nutritional diet for more than 400,000 elderly, disabled, orphaned and needy families.

"It's important to have a food program like this one because these people are living under harsh conditions with such a severe winter. Their resources are limited and many people who once relied on government assistance have nowhere else to turn," said Amy Mintz, who oversees Russia's food projects for the American Red Cross.

With no end in sight to Siberia's annual winter "disaster," the American Red Cross plans to continue helping the most vulnerable. "Unless the economic situation improves, salaries improve and government support improves, their lives will never improve," Rayyis said.

However, with the help of organizations such as the American Red Cross, Rayyis believes that Siberians, a group of people who have learned to survive in a land that is associated with extreme hardship, will endure. "The Russians in general tend to be resilient people. Many often have lived through difficult times and as a result they know how to care for themselves in times of trouble.

This is the first in a series of on-site articles posted by Redcross.org staff writer Stephanie Kriner from American Red Cross project sites in Siberia.