Humanitarian - Australian Red Cross
Humanitarian - Australian Red Cross
Humanitarian - Australian Red Cross
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<strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> delegate Kirsten Jenkins says goodbye to young<br />
friends at the camp soccer challenge in Haiti organised by <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Photo: José Manuel Jiménez, International Federation <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
‘As a volunteer<br />
within the world’s<br />
largest humanitarian<br />
movement, you will<br />
help mobilise the power<br />
of humanity to reduce<br />
or prevent human<br />
suffering wherever it<br />
might be found,’ Roz<br />
Wollmering, Manager of<br />
International Delegate<br />
and Volunteer Services.<br />
Ordinary work in extraordinary places<br />
<strong>Australian</strong>s can now<br />
volunteer with <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
around the world.<br />
A surf lifeguard, a youth worker and an<br />
HIV/AIDS adviser are among the first<br />
<strong>Australian</strong>s to volunteer with <strong>Australian</strong><br />
<strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, as part of a new program<br />
funded by the Federal Government.<br />
<strong>Australian</strong> Volunteers for International<br />
Development is managed by AusAID in<br />
partnership with <strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>,<br />
<strong>Australian</strong> Volunteers International and<br />
Austraining International. Through this<br />
program, <strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> will place<br />
volunteers within <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> societies<br />
and other organisations in Asia, the<br />
Pacific and Africa.<br />
Volunteers will be supported<br />
with airfares, a living allowance,<br />
accommodation, insurance, training and<br />
emergency support. Most assignments<br />
are for 12 months, although they can<br />
range from three months to two years.<br />
International volunteering involves<br />
ordinary work under extraordinary<br />
circumstances, explains Roz<br />
Wollmering, Manager of International<br />
Delegate and Volunteer Services at<br />
<strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
‘On the surface, an international volunteer<br />
role has a lot in common with your day<br />
job in Australia. You complete paperwork,<br />
go to meetings and submit reports.<br />
‘Except that the proposal you write might<br />
help a <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> society get the funds to<br />
carry out relief work in a flood-damaged<br />
town,’ she says.<br />
‘Your morning meeting might be on<br />
a Pacific island with people who are<br />
rebuilding their homes after a cyclone.<br />
The report you write might show how<br />
a group of HIV-positive women are<br />
supporting their families through a small<br />
business scheme.<br />
‘As a volunteer within the world’s<br />
largest humanitarian movement,<br />
you will help mobilise the power of<br />
humanity to reduce or prevent human<br />
suffering wherever it might be found.’<br />
International volunteers supported<br />
by <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> will include health<br />
professionals, financial and human<br />
resource advisers, community<br />
development and social workers,<br />
lawyers, blood specialists, volunteer<br />
managers, and communications<br />
and fundraising professionals. While<br />
they will have diverse backgrounds,<br />
experiences and aspirations, they all<br />
need to be adaptable, resilient, selfaware<br />
and able to work effectively<br />
with people of other cultures.<br />
<strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> societies in Asia and the<br />
Pacific have welcomed the program,<br />
and many societies have already<br />
identified assignments for <strong>Australian</strong><br />
volunteers.<br />
These assignments include:<br />
• raising funds to support road safety<br />
programs in Cambodia<br />
• establishing a surf lifesaving<br />
program on a beach in the<br />
Philippines<br />
• creating procedures that enable<br />
<strong>Red</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> societies to quickly<br />
mobilise local volunteers<br />
• developing peer education<br />
programs to reduce HIV<br />
transmission in Kenya<br />
• strengthening financial and human<br />
resource management processes in<br />
Timor-Leste.<br />
Volunteers stand to gain both<br />
professionally and personally through<br />
this program. ‘For some people,<br />
international volunteering is an<br />
opportunity to gain diverse experience,<br />
broaden their skills or fast-track a<br />
career in international development,’<br />
says Roz. ‘For others, it’s a chance to<br />
make a unique personal contribution or<br />
have a life-changing experience.’<br />
If you have what it takes to be an<br />
international volunteer, let us know. Visit<br />
www.redcross.org.au to view the latest<br />
opportunities or call our International<br />
Volunteer program team on (03) 9345<br />
1834 to discuss your options.<br />
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