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American Red Cross Partners for Progress in Afghanistan
Written by Bonnie Gillespie, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
July 22, 2003 —
Even though media focus has shifted away from the plight of the Afghan people, the American Red Cross and partner organizations maintain an unwavering commitment to confronting the myriad obstacles facing Afghanistan.
Inside a "home school" on the outskirts of Kabul, these children are instructed by teachers trained by the International Rescue Committee, which is supported by the Red Cross and America's Fund for Afghan Children.
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Delegates from American Red Cross International Services recently completed a two and a half week trip to Afghanistan, meeting with partners to strategize and coordinate ongoing humanitarian efforts while witnessing firsthand the measurable success of existing programs.
"We visited rural clinics, hospitals, home schools and many other places trying to get ideas of additional long term projects to work with our partners on," said Deirdre Russo, Afghanistan Desk Officer for American Red Cross International Services. "Organizations like UNICEF, Save the Children, Aga Khan Foundation, Mercy Corps and many others are all working together with the Red Cross."
According to some returning delegates, the positive impact of partnership is already visible in Afghanistan, despite the daily challenges of life for its 21 million residents.
"We've focused on long term projects, such as our support and provision of vaccinations, and now the vaccination rate there is very high," Russo said.
Through the teamwork of the American Red Cross, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, vast vaccination campaigns aim to immunize more than eleven million Afghan children against measles and other menacing childhood diseases, as well as distribute Vitamin A.
In a remote clinic near the Turkmenistan border, a midwife recently arrived with a baby only a few hours old to receive Red Cross-sponsored inoculations and remedial assistance, delegates said. Serving communities that were once an 8-hour donkey ride from the nearest doctor, additional medical clinics are reportedly springing up throughout isolated areas of Afghanistan as a result of the cooperative work of humanitarian partner agencies.
In addition to the new medical clinics cropping up, vegetation and livestock now speckle the once barren hillsides because drought season is finally over, said Russo. However, poverty continues to plague citizens of all ages in Afghanistan. One of every three children is an orphan and almost half of the child population suffers from malnutrition.
America's Fund for Afghan Children
Community improvements are noticeable, though, since last year's massive shipment of school supplies to children in local schools and home schools across Afghanistan as a result of the America's Fund for Afghan Children (AFAC).
A young girl receives a vaccination at village health post outside Andkhoy. Together with Save the Children, the American Red Cross continues to provide Afghan children and their families with basic health care in the northern part of the country.
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"You could see the joy on the children's faces when we delivered the first shipment of school chests," said Malik Jaffer, senior regional associate for the American Red Cross and a returning delegate to Afghanistan. "Most of them were receiving their own paper and pencils for the first time and were thrilled."
AFAC began when President George W. Bush asked America's children to mail in a dollar donation to the White House to help the children in Afghanistan. Almost $12 million has since been donated by young people nationwide, as communities across the U.S. rallied to collect funding and school supplies to benefit the children of Afghanistan.
With the two year anniversary of AFAC approaching this October, partner organizations are planning another school supplies distribution that will again benefit smaller "home schools" and larger community schools.
Supplying warm winter clothing, blankets, tents, and access to clean drinking water are also vital facets of the ongoing work in Afghanistan by humanitarian partner agencies. Red Cross delegates said shipments of winter weather supplies are already slated for delivery in upcoming months to equip residents against the harsh, frigid season.
"Problems there are huge and we're continuing to work with other non-government organizations and the Afghan ministries to meet the needs of the Afghan people," Russo said.
What You Can Do to Help
To continue assisting the people of Afghanistan and around the globe, the American Red Cross needs additional financial assistance to expand its programs, initiatives, emergency food distributions and long-term recovery programs. American Red Cross financial assistance will concentrate on building the capacity of Red Cross societies and branches to help meet the daily needs of local people and assist them in finding lasting solutions to the problems of water, hunger and poverty.
Donations to the International Response Fund can be mailed to your local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013 or by visiting our secure online donation page.
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All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. The Red Cross also supplies nearly half of the nation's lifesaving blood. This, too, is made possible by generous voluntary donations. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year 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 those in need. You can make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. To donate blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or contact your local Red Cross to find out about upcoming blood drives.
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