JAMAICA
HURRICANE DEAN RELIEF OPERATION

• Hurricane Dean affected the island of Jamaica on August 19 causing extensive damage to communities in the parishes of St Thomas, St Catherine, Clarendon, Kingston and St Andrew, Portland, Manchester and St Elizabeth. The Jamaica Red Cross (JRC) assisted thousands of affected families by distributing relief items such as food packages, kitchen kits and hygiene kits among others. In addition to relief distribution, the JRC also provided shelter management in shelters, damage assessment and needs analysis, psychosocial support to severely affected communities, united families through its Tracing Programme and constructed housing for persons who lost their homes due to the hurricane. The JRC is also co-ordinating a school feeding and supplies programme where children of affected families will be provided with meals and relevant school supplies, until their parents are able to resume their income generating activities which were disrupted by Dean.

FIRST AID TRAINING/COVERAGE

• The JRC provided First Aid/CPR Training for over 500 persons with approximately 190 receiving Basic First Aid certification and over 300 being certified in Standard First Aid. First Aid and Ambulance coverage was provided for over 15 events including National Drag Racing Circuit’s Drag Challenges, the Governor General’s Awards and FAME FM Road Party.

HIV and AIDS

• The JRC hosted the Caribbean HIV Global Alliance peer Review Meeting from October 23 – 24 at Alhambra Inn, Kingston. Four National Societies namely Jamaica, Belize, Haiti and Guyana met to share and finalise their plans before the regional plans are developed into an appeal. Regional Health Delegate, John Fleming and Caribbean HIV and AIDS Officer, Dylis McDonald were also present at the meeting.

GLOBAL FUND

• JRC director of HIV and Youth, Marvin Gunther participated in the Global Fund meeting for the Latin America and Caribbean region which was held in Colombia in October. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss plans for improving the impact of Global Fund in various countries. In addition, the JRC has received US$75,000 from the Global Fund to continue its Anti-Stigma and Discrimination and Voluntary Counseling and Testing programmes.

WORKSHOPS/MEETINGS

• The HIV and Youth Co-ordinator of the Manchester Branch of the JRC participated in a regional multi-agency meeting hosted by the Southern Regional Health Authority in October to clarify the role and functions of each agency and to develop a strategic plan for the southern region. The Red Cross representative used the meeting as a forum to introduce the International Federation’s HIV Global Alliance and to see how best the agencies could use this as guide in their strategic planning.

YOUTH

• Eighty two (82) students graduated from the Expanding Educational Horizons Programme (EEHP). Forty seven (47) who previously could not read, have gone to high schools, 12 to the national training agency HEART and 10 have become apprentices. For the new term, there are 197 youth now enrolled in the EEHP.
• A Link Patron Meeting was held in October at the JRC’s National Headquarters, where approximately 45 Link Patrons were present. The meeting served to discuss plans for the links for the academic year September 2007 – July 2008. The JRC has links (Red Cross clubs) in over 70 percent of the island’s schools. Link Patrons are teachers who are assigned to links.

JAMAICA RED CROSS MONTH CELEBRATIONS

• October was JRC month under the theme “Together for Humanity.” Branches conducted numerous activities for the month including health fairs, launch of new area groups, volunteer trips, church services and fundraising events. Media interviews were also conducted to heighten awareness of the work of the JRC and recruit volunteers.

DOMINICA

HIV and AIDS

• On the occasion of the 11th World Creole Music Festival which was held from October 26 – 28, “Awareness Champion” for the “Faces” campaign and lead singer for the Triple K Band, Wayne Benjamin, utilized their performance at this event to deliver HIV messages to a crowd on 10,000 revelers. Programme Co-ordinator at the Dominica Red Cross (DRC) expressed satisfaction with the crowds’ reception of these messages and encouraged all the “Awareness Champions” to continue to use such public appearances to spread the word on HIV and AIDS.

SECURITY MEETING

• CARICOM Heads of State met in Dominica from October 1 – 4 to participate in a number of security briefings and preparations for support personnel. The DRC was requested to serve on the medical teams and to attend meetings of the Heads of State whilst a second medical team accompanied their spouses on field visits. The Red Cross ambulance and volunteers also formed part of the convoys transporting the dignitaries to and from the airport. First Responders of the Red Cross Response Team were utilized for this event.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• Following heavy winds and torrential rains spawned by Hurricane Dean on August 17, early response activities moved into the recovery phase during the months of September and October. Appeals met by the International Federation and the Canadian High Commission provided for household items and roofing materials which were distributed during the Red Cross’ relief distribution project, which has already met the needs of 295 and 127 families respectively.

DONATIONS

• The DRC received a donation of EC$17,500 (US$7,000) from ScotiaBank to enable its continued efforts to assist persons affected by Hurricane Dean. During this presentation ceremony, the Prime Minister of Dominica announced its government’s intention to provide the Red Cross with a subvention. This followed concerted efforts by the Director General to elicit such subvention over the past decade and three different governments.

SURINAME

RENOVATIONS

• In August, the Suriname Red Cross (SRC) opened its newly renovated and expanded garages and storage space. The construction took about five months and the old buildings were destroyed to make room for the new SRC headquarters. Funds for the constructions were donated by the NV Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname (Suriname Oil Company).

HIV and AIDS

• The SRC Youth conducted a number of TWC trainings at vacation camps. They also did a series of visits to schools to encourage young people to join the TWC programme. During their visits, the SRC Youth distributed posters, buttons, flyers and brochures with messages on HIV and other STIs.

FIRST AID DAY

• On the occasion of World First Aid Day, which was commemorated on September 8, the SRC launched a documentary of five local television stations about First Aid and the SRC. This promoted many people and organizations to sign up for First Aid courses with the SRC.