A DIFFICULT HISTORY
Tour of International Red Cross Museum offers look into past
I never knew the Red Cross began in Switzerland.
During a visit to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, I learned the Red Cross is dedicated to helping other nations – mainly developing nations – that have health disparities and diseases. The Red Cross does a spectacular job at getting help for these families and also getting the families access to medical aid.
A photo on display at the International Red Cross Museum (Contributed photos)
We also had the privilege of visiting the World Health Organization, which is very similar to the Red Cross; however, their work can be seen as on a smaller scale.
During our visits to the Red Cross and WHO, we learned about many health disparities in developing nations around the world, such as Rwanda, and countries affected by the war, like Palestine.
Because these countries are so small and face economic difficulties, the citizens there struggle to get the access to health care that they need. Many of the people are susceptible to diseases caused by bugs, such as malaria, or even disease as a result of never receiving vaccinations as a child.
Photo IDs used to help reunite young children with family members following the Rwandan genocide.
Some of the cards used to connect families with WWI prisoners of war.
Letters written by children separated from their parents.
By visiting both organizations, we learned the importance of vaccinations and using preventative measures to protect children and older adults, who are more susceptible to illnesses, infections and diseases.
We also saw pictures of refugees from different countries and how starved they looked as a result of a poor economy and limited access to food. The Red Cross is known for delivering food and safe drinking water to the citizens of poor countries and refugees.
-by Symone Spaulding, journalism major and English minor
June 12-13, 2018