In March I spoke as a Red Cross volunteer at the brand relaunch for Purex. Purex recently became the sponsor of the NZ Red Cross Annual Appeal and I was proud to have the opportunity to speak. I thought I would put an abridged version here to share with you.
I think it is fair to say that Purex has joined with the NZ Red Cross during the busiest period in its peacetime history.
Having started my involvement in the Red Cross, as a volunteer in the early nineties. I am now privileged to be part of a very dynamic, very professional volunteer organisation, which is very much in demand.
“Business is booming” you might say, and the relevance of what the Red Cross has done for the last 148 years internationally and the last 80 years in NZ, is now no longer just a reality on our televisions.
For 70,000 homes in Christchurch recently, it was standing on their front doorstep;
It was meeting evacuees off military aircraft… not in Pakistan, but in Wellington;
It was Water & Sanitation engineers providing fresh drinking water… not in Sudan, but in the suburbs of Bromley, Wainoni and New Brighton;
It was reuniting families separated by events… not in Rwanda, but in Cashel St, Colombo St and Hagley Park;
It was providing shelter and safety… not in Somalia, but at Burnside High School, Cowles Stadium and Lyttelton Community Centre.
Volunteers, Delegates and Staff can also attest to the fact that the last 6 months alone has seen some of them deploy: first to the September Earthquake; then the Pike River Tragedy; then the Queensland Floods; then the North Queensland Hurricane; and then the Feb 22nd earthquake… and I don’t feel game to say that’s the end of the list at this stage.
And all the while, the Red Cross continues to support our community with a number of different programmes such as: First Aid courses; Meals on Wheels; Breakfasts in schools; and the International Federation of the Red Cross’ Delegate Programme in the Pacific and more far-flung corners of the world.
I’d like to touch on the Red Cross operations in response to the recent earthquake in Christchurch, to illustrate how the Red Cross and its volunteers responded to, and were affected by events. And how valuable our community partners are, and how our principles are at the heart of everything we do.
By day I am a Programme Manager for Telecom. On Tuesday the 22nd of February, it was as I returned to my desk that a work colleague informed me of the earthquake. When he mentioned that the Cathedral had reportedly come down; the gravity of the situation hit me. I immediately walked across Wellington to the Red Cross National Office.
Whilst we waited for the picture from Christchurch to develop, we set up the National Emergency Operations Centre and started to warn out the 250 Response Team trained personnel based around NZ. Most South Island teams were immediately dispatched; their red overalls donned, personal protective equipment and backpack ready to go. Often very little said at that point - generally it’s a knowing glance to your boss, husband, wife or children and an “I’ll call you when I can”.
Meanwhile back in Wellington, doing the midnight til 7 shift. One of the staff called in from the Wellington Emergency Management meeting at 6:15am.
“Rob. There are 850 foreign nationals being evacuated by the RNZAF to Wellington… they all need to be
registered when they arrive…and the first flight lands in 30 minutes”.
Along with people from Civil Defence, Ministry of Social Development and the Salvation Army, we registered over 1,100 evacuees that day.
As the people stepped off the Hercules aircraft, they looked exhausted. It was the first time in 12hours they had stood on ground that was not subject to aftershocks and the first time they had stepped foot in buildings whose structural integrity they did not have to question. Some tourists’ clothes were splattered with mud. One was covered in coffee stains, spilt at the moment the quake struck. One woman wore a bathrobe over her clothes for warmth. One tourist wore a St John’s jacket and a stethoscope, his medical skills pressed into service. As the adrenaline subsided, the fatigue hit and many emotional scenes unfolded around us.
One of the lessons we had learnt in September was that for many people from countries without a welfare state; they did not naturally look to Govt agencies for assistance. It is the Universal and Independent status of the Red Cross globally that they identify as an organisation they can trust. Hence it was agreed that as everyone stepped off the aircraft, the first person they would see would be a Red Cross person. No one else could fill that role.
Little did we know that at one point the US Ambassador himself was staffing the US Consular stand next to us in the airport, as Red Cross volunteers dealt with people often 4 to 5 deep. So it was a very proud moment later on in Christchurch when I was able to inform the Response Team members that the US Embassy had made a six figure donation to the Red Cross Appeal, based on the work they had seen them do at the Airport.
I received four hours notice that I was to deploy to Christchurch as one of the Red Cross Operations Managers on the ground. By now we had 130 Response Team personnel deployed and were starting to stand-down the Christchurch team members to allow them to look after their families and take stock of their home town.
We had a team deployed on USAR tasks, searching buildings in the CBD. The hours were long and the work very dusty and dirty.
We had 50-60 personnel assigned to OPERATION SUBURB. This was a door-to-door visit of the 70,000 homes in the worst affected suburbs. The Red Cross Welfare Officers checked on the people and their living conditions, whilst engineers assessed the state of the buildings. For many they were lucky to have friends, family and neighbours to help them, but for a lot of people the Red Cross were the first people they had spoken to. The first to discover elderly and other ‘high needs’ members of the community without working power, water or sewage. The last time I personally visited people in that same situation was only last Thursday. These people are very vulnerable and very emotionally fragile.
We also provided something we call ‘Targeted Outreach’ where people with urgent welfare needs were referred to us and we would dispatch our people in pairs to call on them. This was a mammoth task, as it presented many different scenarios. We weren’t able to brief our teams on how to handle each situation. – and this is the bit I love most about the Red Cross – we provided them some training, a few basic facts, and A SET OF PRINCIPLES to guide them. The teams came across the elderly and infirm without basic amenities or transport, who needed to be evacuated to friends or a local welfare centre. There were also people without access to critical medication and so, so many who just needed support, reassurance and human contact.
Another role we had was providing a 24/7 presence at the Welfare Centres. Once again we were part of the multi-agency response along with various government agencies and other charities. Our key role here was the registration of 44,981 people displaced from their homes.
This also supported the process we refer to as ‘Restoring family Links’ (RfL). A vital service that the Red Cross has provided in many disaster and war zones, reuniting people with loved ones. We fielded 1148 missing person enquiries from both within New Zealand and abroad, via our call centre and had resolved 832 RfL cases as of 17 March.
We also had to look after our own people.
Operational stress was a very real problem for us. It presented in many forms.
People having very intense dealings with traumatised victims, often directing despair, helplessness, tears or anger at us
Operational Fatigue – less experienced personnel expecting to operate 20 hours a day, when these kinds of environments can drain all the energy from your body in a 6-8 hour shift. This becomes a key issue to manage as we can not expect full operational efficiency in such psychologically adverse environments
Another issue is what we call ‘being in the Now’. For the victims it meant being trapped at 12:51 on 22 February. For staff like myself it meant being trapped in tomorrow as we continually planned future operations. When your head is in the midnight to 8am shift tomorrow, you often don’t realise that its actually lunchtime today – and you end up missing meals and rest periods which eventually catch up on you and make you ineffective. It’s important to know your limits and to be 'in the Now'.
And there were the little things that catch you off guard. One silly image that trips me up was the Mexican Search and Rescue team and their overalls emblazoned with their symbol and underneath was their ‘Role of Honour’: Chile, Haiti, Indonesia etc and a space, where ‘Christchurch’ will now appear. I think it was a realization for me that Christchurch, such a proud city and my hometown, was now a victim.
For one of our volunteers, an English woman who is not a big rugby fan, it was hearing that Christchurch had lost the Rugby World Cup games that saw her burst into tears.
We flew in professional psycho-social counsellors from the Australian Red Cross so we were able to debrief our teams;
One of the other things we said to our teams was to accept an offer of help occasionally. This is because for people that are always virtuously giving to others, it’s important for them to be in touch with their vulnerability at the same time. Rest assured the Red Cross will continue to ensure that its’ people involved in Christchurch will get the support they need in the weeks and months to come.
Welfare Centres eventually closed down and for the first time, we mobilised Red Cross International Federation Delegates in NZ; water and sanitation engineers tasked to provide clean drinking water to the public, as well as providing public health advice to the Christchurch City Council. We distributed over 2,000 water containers and more than quarter of a million litres of clean drinking water.
Of course, we immediately launched an appeal, moments before the Red Cross Annual Appeal got underway, for which you are our main supporter. The generosity of both public and corporate NZ was breath-taking.
I received a call from those Red Cross people we had providing Welfare Assistance at the airport to tell me that in just a few hours they has received over $2,000 in spontaneous donations. We didn’t even rattle a tin.
With over $32M raised so far, the level of giving was unprecedented, but unfortunately so was the need. Over $17.5M has been given out in Emergency Hardship Grants to 19,500 applicants, with that number expected to possibly hit 30,000 applicants, which could consume the current funds. This does not start to address the longer terms requirements of the people of Christchurch. In situations such as these, with people’s needs varying greatly, the distribution of hardship grants is the best way we are able to cater for the widest range of needs in the shortest time possible. The application process has been open to all affected by this event and does not discriminate against nationality or residence. Red Cross national societies around the world joined in the fundraising process, especially those countries that had citizens caught up in the earthquake.
All applications are treated equally and impartially, based purely on need. And of course 100% of all funds raised will go to the people it was intended for. We have been fortunate to have a strong group of civic and community leaders as the Earthquake Commission.
In the meantime our work in other areas goes on and we are also receiving donations for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
Sadly Business is booming.
Civil Defence opened up Recovery Assistance Centres in 10 locations around Christchurch. The Red Cross provided a presence here as well, assisting members of the public to apply for the Emergency Hardship Grant.
It was at this point last week we transitioned the operation from our Response Team personnel, across to local volunteers and Branch members. You know, those people you often see swinging a bucket for the Red Cross during the Annual Appeal – well they’re currently in the frontline, continuing to provide support and comfort to people coming into those Recovery Centres. We also stand ready to support Christchurch and its people through the long rebuilding phase that lies ahead.
This was another defining moment for me.
I must admit that when I first volunteered for the Red Cross 20 years ago; I struggled to see the connection between: the Red Cross Federation Delegates in places like Africa, those of us in Red Cross overalls in New Zealand, and the members of local Red Cross branches – and what we actually all had in common.
In the last four weeks I have seen all three groups working shoulder to shoulder in Christchurch and so I have seen what we have in common…
Principles.
In fact we are a seamless organisation from top to bottom and between any two locations in the world, because of those principles. We may give the impression of an organisation that does many, many things, but the list we keep is not endless, it has simply the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross on it.
People are often so quick to praise those who volunteer and give their time for others. What we gain by way of both personal and professional enrichment from being part of the NZ Red Cross, in my opinion far outweighs the sacrifice of our own time and hence why it is so willingly made. As a volunteer who gives my time freely – I consider myself very well paid.
On the subject of Corporate values…
Like Purex we at Telecom have adopted a set of principles, or values, to guide how we do things. One of them being simply: “One Telecom”. This is a statement that reflects the fact that whilst the enforced Operational Separation has split us into Retail, Wholesale, Gen-i and Chorus, we are still the one Telecom family (for now). So when the 1,600 employees in Christchurch suffered through the Earthquake, there was no need for a massive series of briefings. I would argue that half the actions people took in response, did not come down from Management. It was just people being true to those two words: “One Telecom”, meaning we were all in the same situation. And this is the point where I stop trying to clearly identify where volunteering and being an active member of the community stops and being an employee and a professional starts.
There is no line anymore.
I think my work-colleagues and myself bring as much to the business we work in from our active involvement in the community, expressing ourselves through a set of values and principles, as the business gives us by allowing us to participate.
Strong values transcend boundaries.
When you want to motivate your team at work, it helps if you’ve had to focus a team of 130 volunteers who are tired and emotional after a long day in a disaster zone. You learn some very good people skills when you’ve tried to put a smile on the face of a scared tourist, stuck in a strange place, with only the clothes they are wearing. When I held the hand of a mother who lost her son in the earthquake, it couldn’t help but rub off on how I deal with people in my job.
So often we sit in meeting rooms full of suits and steer at computer screens all day – so I am grateful that the Red Cross gives me the chance to deal with members of the public and work alongside mechanics, retirees, kindy teachers, stay-at-home mothers, the unemployed and students. I get to see what a rich tapestry of people make this world go round and what they all have to contribute.
And I love it how we all get paid the same amount.
