SINGAPORE: The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has, for the first time, deployed civilian volunteers in its ongoing relief operations to aid affected communities caught up in the Gaza crisis, with the Israel-Hamas war now into its sixth month.
These volunteers, who are part of SRC's third and latest tranche of support, have undergone proper disaster response training before embarking on their mission. This includes knowing how to dispense medical and psychosocial support, as well as how to survive in an unpredictable environment.
The volunteers, all of whom are civilians, include an eight-person team that will assist in the ongoing relief operations for about a week till the end of April in Egypt, where they are currently located.
The team will be involved in the “sourcing of food supplies and packing of the food parcels, and other relief items destined for Gaza”, the organisation said in a media release on Wednesday (Apr 24).
In addition, SRC has deployed an operations coordinator, also a civilian volunteer, who will be stationed in Egypt for one to two months to oversee the coordination of SRC’s response activities.
This is the second such “long-term deployment” that SRC has activated in Egypt – the first being from October to November last year where a staff member was deployed to coordinate the first tranche of support worth US$200,000.
This latest tranche of support – valued at US$600,000 in total – from SRC will also provide vital food support through the “emergency humanitarian kitchen” and delivery of food parcels, and include the procurement of medical supplies for Gaza hospitals.
Around US$400,000 will be used for vital food support, while the remaining US$200,000 will be spent on the medical supplies.
A team briefing among the civilian volunteers assisting in short-term Gaza relief operations. (Photo: Singapore Red Cross)
The key to training volunteers is to give them “a broad foundation so they are able to adapt to different situations”, secretary general and CEO Benjamin William told reporters on Wednesday.
“If you try to be very specific, it will be very difficult, because you will never get it right. Every crisis represents new challenges.”
As such, volunteers have to be prepared for “uncertainties”, he said.
“You need within the team people who can make decisions on the ground, make decisions on their feet. At the same time, you need people who are good in thinking through logistics, thinking through water and sanitation solutions.”
Elaborating on the training that volunteers receive before embarking on a mission, leader of the eight-person team Nadim van der Ros told CNA on Tuesday from Cairo that this mandatory training provides a “basic introduction to the humanitarian space”.
It is “very useful for our volunteers to know because they need to operate in complex disaster situations, where there are many different agencies”, said the 47-year-old, a volunteer with SRC since 2016.
SRC’s key partner on the ground is the Egyptian Red Crescent – which provides logistical support for another key player, the Palestine Red Crescent Society, in procuring, receiving and delivering relief supplies into Gaza, added Mr William.
The Egyptian Red Crescent have said they prefer the SRC to “procure items directly” and hand it over to them, Mr William noted.
This is advantageous to SRC, as they are then able to “maximise the donations" they have received.
While SRC closely supports the Palestine Red Crescent Society, "we are unable to do so directly because we don't have access to Gaza, so we do it through Egyptian Red Crescent", added Mr William.
SRC on Wednesday also pointed out that the emergency humanitarian kitchen in this tranche of support aims to provide “daily hot meals” for at least 7,000 displaced families and medical evacuees in temporary shelters run by the Egyptian Red Crescent, in the first phase.
“The close proximity of North Sinai to the borders of Gaza reduces logistical challenges and facilitates prompt delivery of warm meals for the affected,” the organisation stated.
Additionally, volunteers will be procuring supplies for food parcels, which contain “basic food items” like rice, pasta, flour, salt, oil, tuna, tomato paste, biscuits and jam.
They will work closely with the Egyptian Red Crescent to procure these food supplies directly from suppliers in Egypt, before the food parcels are transported into Gaza via trucks.
These food parcels are expected to support more than 9,000 families for five to seven days.
SRC will also procure medical supplies – including medical consumables such as first aid items, blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, finger splints, nebulizer sets and other “urgently needed” medical items requested by the Palestine Red Crescent Society and hospitals in Gaza.
These supplies will be procured in Singapore and delivered to Egypt, before they are transported to Gaza for distribution in hospitals, the organisation added.
But while this may be the plan, volunteers must also know how to adapt to various scenarios and challenges that may arise when working with the communities they are trying to help.
For instance, there are strict conditions for the trucks before they can enter Gaza. Sometimes, when a certain item in a truck is not allowed, the whole truck will be turned back, Mr William illustrated.
This lack of predictability is why some organisations and governments have resorted to airdrops to get relief supplies into Gaza, he said.
“The situation on the ground is changing so obviously we need to adapt to the vulnerabilities of the communities that we’re trying to help. We can’t just say, okay, this is our solution to their particular problem,” added Mr van der Ros.
Having basic disaster response training of a "certain standard" also enables SRC volunteers to utilise these skills without too much stress once they are deployed on a “more critical” mission, and engage with each other easily even if they are working together for the first time.
And while this is the first time SRC has deployed civilian volunteers for relief efforts in the Gaza crisis, some of the eight short-term volunteers have extensive experience in other humanitarian aid missions.
Nonetheless, Mr van der Ros'
“This is one of those crises where the operations become very unpredictable. It changes from day to day … that’s why we have invested a bit in putting a team on the ground,” added Mr William.
“You may ask why we don’t send more people. We don’t want to become a hindrance as well … We don’t need humanitarian tourism. We need people who can actually work on the ground and not get in the way of operations.”
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These volunteers, who are part of SRC's third and latest tranche of support, have undergone proper disaster response training before embarking on their mission. This includes knowing how to dispense medical and psychosocial support, as well as how to survive in an unpredictable environment.
The volunteers, all of whom are civilians, include an eight-person team that will assist in the ongoing relief operations for about a week till the end of April in Egypt, where they are currently located.
The team will be involved in the “sourcing of food supplies and packing of the food parcels, and other relief items destined for Gaza”, the organisation said in a media release on Wednesday (Apr 24).
In addition, SRC has deployed an operations coordinator, also a civilian volunteer, who will be stationed in Egypt for one to two months to oversee the coordination of SRC’s response activities.
This is the second such “long-term deployment” that SRC has activated in Egypt – the first being from October to November last year where a staff member was deployed to coordinate the first tranche of support worth US$200,000.
This latest tranche of support – valued at US$600,000 in total – from SRC will also provide vital food support through the “emergency humanitarian kitchen” and delivery of food parcels, and include the procurement of medical supplies for Gaza hospitals.
Around US$400,000 will be used for vital food support, while the remaining US$200,000 will be spent on the medical supplies.
A team briefing among the civilian volunteers assisting in short-term Gaza relief operations. (Photo: Singapore Red Cross)
VOLUNTEER TRAINING
The key to training volunteers is to give them “a broad foundation so they are able to adapt to different situations”, secretary general and CEO Benjamin William told reporters on Wednesday.
“If you try to be very specific, it will be very difficult, because you will never get it right. Every crisis represents new challenges.”
As such, volunteers have to be prepared for “uncertainties”, he said.
“You need within the team people who can make decisions on the ground, make decisions on their feet. At the same time, you need people who are good in thinking through logistics, thinking through water and sanitation solutions.”
Elaborating on the training that volunteers receive before embarking on a mission, leader of the eight-person team Nadim van der Ros told CNA on Tuesday from Cairo that this mandatory training provides a “basic introduction to the humanitarian space”.
It is “very useful for our volunteers to know because they need to operate in complex disaster situations, where there are many different agencies”, said the 47-year-old, a volunteer with SRC since 2016.
SRC’s key partner on the ground is the Egyptian Red Crescent – which provides logistical support for another key player, the Palestine Red Crescent Society, in procuring, receiving and delivering relief supplies into Gaza, added Mr William.
The Egyptian Red Crescent have said they prefer the SRC to “procure items directly” and hand it over to them, Mr William noted.
This is advantageous to SRC, as they are then able to “maximise the donations" they have received.
While SRC closely supports the Palestine Red Crescent Society, "we are unable to do so directly because we don't have access to Gaza, so we do it through Egyptian Red Crescent", added Mr William.
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FOOD PARCELS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES
SRC on Wednesday also pointed out that the emergency humanitarian kitchen in this tranche of support aims to provide “daily hot meals” for at least 7,000 displaced families and medical evacuees in temporary shelters run by the Egyptian Red Crescent, in the first phase.
“The close proximity of North Sinai to the borders of Gaza reduces logistical challenges and facilitates prompt delivery of warm meals for the affected,” the organisation stated.
Additionally, volunteers will be procuring supplies for food parcels, which contain “basic food items” like rice, pasta, flour, salt, oil, tuna, tomato paste, biscuits and jam.
They will work closely with the Egyptian Red Crescent to procure these food supplies directly from suppliers in Egypt, before the food parcels are transported into Gaza via trucks.
These food parcels are expected to support more than 9,000 families for five to seven days.
SRC will also procure medical supplies – including medical consumables such as first aid items, blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, finger splints, nebulizer sets and other “urgently needed” medical items requested by the Palestine Red Crescent Society and hospitals in Gaza.
These supplies will be procured in Singapore and delivered to Egypt, before they are transported to Gaza for distribution in hospitals, the organisation added.
But while this may be the plan, volunteers must also know how to adapt to various scenarios and challenges that may arise when working with the communities they are trying to help.
For instance, there are strict conditions for the trucks before they can enter Gaza. Sometimes, when a certain item in a truck is not allowed, the whole truck will be turned back, Mr William illustrated.
This lack of predictability is why some organisations and governments have resorted to airdrops to get relief supplies into Gaza, he said.
“The situation on the ground is changing so obviously we need to adapt to the vulnerabilities of the communities that we’re trying to help. We can’t just say, okay, this is our solution to their particular problem,” added Mr van der Ros.
Having basic disaster response training of a "certain standard" also enables SRC volunteers to utilise these skills without too much stress once they are deployed on a “more critical” mission, and engage with each other easily even if they are working together for the first time.
And while this is the first time SRC has deployed civilian volunteers for relief efforts in the Gaza crisis, some of the eight short-term volunteers have extensive experience in other humanitarian aid missions.
Nonetheless, Mr van der Ros'
“This is one of those crises where the operations become very unpredictable. It changes from day to day … that’s why we have invested a bit in putting a team on the ground,” added Mr William.
“You may ask why we don’t send more people. We don’t want to become a hindrance as well … We don’t need humanitarian tourism. We need people who can actually work on the ground and not get in the way of operations.”
Continue reading...