Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross makes public appeal to support Disaster Management Fund

In order to be prepared and to have a prepared public in the event of a man made or natural disaster, the Trinidad & Tobago Red Cross (TTRC) is trying to re energize support for its Disaster Management Fund at Republic Bank Limited.

“When a natural or man-made disaster strikes,” says Neil Rolingson, TTRC Director for Disaster Preparedness,“very often people’s lives are not only affected during that period but can be in upheaval for a very long time. We have only to take note of the daily reports in the aftermath of local flooding, landslides, collapsed homes and many other such situations to know that the stark reality is that lives may never be the same as before. Some people never recover, in particular the elderly and the poor.”

In 1989 the United Nations General Assembly designated the second Wednesday of October to the commemoration of International Day for Disaster Reduction “as a vehicle to promote a global culture of natural disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.”

In March 2006 the TTRC launched its local Disaster Management Fund, using a similar strategy of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).

The objective being, to be prepared to not only help the vulnerable communities at disaster times, but to teach them how to be prepared, and to build up the capacity of the national society to deliver disaster response programmes.

The TTRC fund began with a modest figure of TT$37,000 and continued to grow but not at the rate that was expected.    

The local Red Cross like all the National Red Cross societies globally, are expected to not simply respond at emergency times but to support in the quiet times the development of vulnerable communities to give them the survival tools and techniques they would need to mitigate suffering and hardships when these events occur.

With humanitarian organizations, most of the revenue collected annually may come from a one time donation by individuals or companies, but the fact is that the needs quickly out strip revenue collection.

National societies are therefore in a constant cycle of fundraising, spending on much needed community programmes, building their human and organizational resource capacities to respond to community needs, depleting capital, and more fund raising. 

This is a challenge that most national societies accept, but needed from the public is more consistent and long term partnering, a vital key to sustained development; an approach to giving that comes away from the traditional philanthropy, to a more businesslike and strategic one that speaks to the social and economic bottom lines of the donors and the beneficiaries.

The Red Cross is mandated to continuously deepen and broaden its social programmes through education in basic health care, promotion of disaster risk reduction activities, and the consolidation of previous disaster preparedness programming.

To effect these, there must be the continuous forging of social and economic partnerships with other agencies, companies and individuals to allow them to continue helping more communities which need support.

Vulnerable communities that are constantly prepared will be knowledgeable about basic hygiene and sanitation, how to administer first aid in a crisis, how to read early warning signals of bad weather, flooding and other emergencies, how to protect their families, homes and properties before and in an event, how to assess the capacities and vulnerabilities of their own communities, how to go about reducing those risks associated with disasters, how to respond to them and how to build back their livelihoods afterwards.

Longer term economic relationships and commitments will allow the TTRC to be less consumed with a never ending search for funding, relationships that are seen as investments that help to maximize better programming, improved performance  of the national society and consistent service to the most vulnerable.

“Preparing a community to respond to a disaster can cost approximately TT$25,000 per community,” says the TTRC Ag Director General, Angela Gouveia. This involves First Aid training, teaching persons to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their communities, empowering teams to be competent first responders and equipping them with tools and protective gear.”

“We have already taken our training programme to over fourteen coastal communities, and there is an urgent need to equip other vulnerable communities.  Cost however is a major factor.

Urgent replenishing of the fund is needed to continue the work begun in vulnerable communities and this cannot wait.” 

The Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society’s Disaster Management Fund at any branch of Republic Bank, account No: 180466501801.