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PAGE 6 INTERNATIONAL NEWS A new life in Solomon Islands Melissa Bencik has just arrived in Solomon Islands as an Australian volunteer supported by Australian Red Cross. She will spend the next 12 months helping increase youth engagement with Solomon Islands Red Cross, especially as blood donors. Melissa took the time to write about her new surroundings: coconuts, postcard-perfect beaches and reggae. I expected intense heat to hit me in the face when I disembarked the plane, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. The 2am arrival may have had something to do with it, although even at that hour the air smelled damp and moist and my jeans clung to my legs, feeling three times their weight. Two weeks on, I can’t say I’ve fully acclimatised to the hot weather of Solomon Islands, but it trumps a Melbourne winter. The city of Honiara consists of one main road which can be walked in about 30 minutes. Rubbish covers the streets and fills rivers. Footpaths must be navigated carefully, as people chew and spit betel-nut everywhere. But take a short drive out of Honiara and the scenery changes into luscious greenery and beautiful clean beaches, dotted with shipwrecks from World War II to snorkel and dive around. The local buses, considered minivans by Australian standards, pump out island reggae music that makes me smile. Coconuts are readily available for drinking (living the Pacific cliché) and the bush lime is tasty and refreshing. You can buy coconut bread at the bakery and fresh fish and produce at the local market. I’m yet to learn local recipes for all this local food. Australian Volunteer Melissa Bencik with staff from Australian and Solomon Islands Red Cross Societies. Photo: Julian Troth. I’m finding my colleagues at Solomon Islands Red Cross to be very friendly and helpful, and are dedicated to their work. I already feel like I’ve known them for far longer than I actually have. My role to help engage young people as blood donors comes with its own challenges. Generally, awareness of the need for blood donation is quite basic and the majority of donations come from people whose families are sick and in hospital. Given that a large percentage of the population is under 25, there’s a clear need to engage this audience, and so my work is cut out for me. I look forward to embracing this opportunity with open arms over the coming year, hopefully with many more coconuts and reggae-filled bus rides along the way. Australian Volunteers for International Development is a new program from the Australian Government, managed by AusAID and implemented by Australian Red Cross. There are many opportunities for Australians to volunteer in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. The program covers airfares, accommodation, living allowances, insurance and other costs. Visit www.ausaid.gov.au/ volunteer and search for Red Cross assignments, or call us on (03) 9345 1834.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS PAGE 7 Red Cross aid worker wins international award Australian nurse and Red Cross aid worker Noela Davies has received a prestigious humanitarian medal, the highest international honour for her profession. The Florence Nightingale Medal is awarded by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and recognises exceptional courage and devotion to victims of armed conflict or natural disaster. ‘Can you imagine a woman who does not read or write, not even the Koran, having to learn how to recognise and treat signs of anaemia’ says Noela as she recalls one of her most rewarding missions, furthering basic medical skills among women in Ethiopia’s Gode region. ‘The main illnesses identified in that area were malaria, diarrhoea, eye infections, and wounds,’ she says. ‘The women were great – they were interested and committed and they picked up information quickly.’ This is one example of the ten challenging Red Cross missions that Noela has completed. She has worked in war-torn Kenya and South Sudan performing triage and treating the wounded. She established a primary health care facility in Kenya’s floodaffected coastal towns. In Australia, she has worked to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. For Noela, there is still work to be done and she will continue to volunteer for overseas missions. Australian Red Cross Head of International Programs Donna McSkimming said, ‘Noela is a credit to Australian nursing – an ordinary Australian who has made an extraordinary contribution.’ Noela humbly accepted the award in front of fellow delegates and Australian Red Cross staff in June. ‘I accept this award on behalf of delegates, past and present, from International Committee of the Red Cross and other aid organisations.’ Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Australian Red Cross CEO Robert Tickner described the Medal as, ‘the mother of all awards. It embodies the wonderful values that we all work for here at Red Cross.’ Noela is one of 39 recipients from 19 countries of the Florence Nightingale Noela Davies. Photo: Louise Cooper. Medal in 2011. The awards also recognise exemplary service or a pioneering spirit in areas of public health or nursing education. Recipients were nominated by their local national Red Cross or Red Crescent Society and selected by a commission comprised of the ICRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Council of Nurses. Humanitarian crisis in East Africa More than a million displaced people in Somalia are searching for shelter and food, and people living in the Eastern Horn of Africa are facing the worst drought conditions in 60 years. Red Cross is there to help. Red Cross is setting up feeding programs for malnourished children and providing safe drinking water. In Somalia, Red Cross has distributed more than 300 tonnes of assorted seeds along with farm tools like shovels, hoes and rakes to enable farmers to cultivate crops. How you can help More than 12 million people in East Africa are in need of urgent humanitarian aid according to the United Nations. You can help by donating to the East Africa Drought Appeal 2011 through visiting www.redcross.org.au or calling 1800 811 700. Newsletter for members and volunteers
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Page 11 and 12: NT NEWS PAGE 11 Ngariwanajirri: The

NT - Australian Red Cross

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