New Zealand Red Cross Aid Worker Bound For Congo

NEWS RELEASE
3 November
New Zealand Red Cross Aid Worker Bound For Congo

New Zealand Red Cross aid worker Barbara Turnbull is preparing to undertake a 12 month mission into the conflict torn region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Barbara, from Dunedin, is currently in France taking part in a French language immersion course in preparation for her mission. She is scheduled to fly into Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of November.

While in Goma, Barbara will work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as an operating theatre and ward nurse. She will join 17 other international ICRC staff currently based in the country.

The humanitarian deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo will be Barbara’s second mission with New Zealand Red Cross. This past August, she returned from a six month mission in Afghanistan where she worked as a nurse.

Barbara’s deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo was planned before the recent escalation of violence following fighting between government troops and the armed opposition in North Kivu province. It is expected that Barbara will be involved in the ICRCs’ response to the growing humanitarian emergency in the country.

The ICRCs’ immediate priority in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the violence is to provide emergency treatment to the wounded and to assist the displaced population. The ICRC is working closely with the Democratic Republic of Congo Red Cross Society in their provision of assistance to those who need it most.

Another priority has been to ensure that those people displaced by the violence and unrest get access to safe drinking water. Over the weekend ICRC teams installed a water storage system in a camp in Kibati near Goma, which will deliver safe drinking water to around 10,000 persons.

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