WORK FOR HUMANITY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 264, 5 October 1933, Page 2

WORK FOR HUMANITY

THE RED CROSS. OFFICIAL COMMENDATION. That the Manawatu. branch bad created a record for New Zealand in. the matter of passes in the examination for medallions in lied Cross work, was announced by Major J. Abel, V.D., chairman of the New Zealand Red Cross Society, when speaking at a gathering of the members of the Manawatu branch last evening. 'Twenty-two members had sat for the examination and all had passed. Generally, as in anything, the bulk of the work fell on a few, but it was a most pleasing feature of the work in Palmerston North that a great deal had been done. That showed the number who had been interested.

Another feature, the speaker added, was the number of men who belonged to the branch. It was not an organisation solely for women—there was plenty of work for men. Very shortly, he thought, the branch would bo able to form a. men’s detachment. There was only one other men’s detachment in New Zealand, and that was at Hawera. With Sister Lewis, he had been able to pay his respects to Miss McGliie, Matron at the Palmerston North Hospital, who was as keen as ever for the work. (Applause.) There were 23 centres in New Zealand and there could be .a Manawatu centre with its sub-centres and executive officers,' he added. The Dominion organisation intended to take steps to bring that into being and the centre would lia.ve representation on the Dominion Council m Wellington. The Red Cross was now seen in 59 countries, continued the speaker. The latest figures showed that it had over ■ 000.000 members. The New Zealand Red Cross had its own representation on the parent body and was a separate entity.

Besides the senior section, there was the Junior Red Cross, which was in 48 countries and had 12,500,000 members. The society was strictly non political and non-religious, and was open to all nationalities.

Major Abel dealt with the compilation of portfolios by the Junior Red Cross members and the sending of them to foreign countries. The Junior Red Cross members worked in many ways and raised funds, and they had a certain amount of say regarding where the money would be spent. Showing the amount of work that could be done, Major Abel instanced the case of NewSoutli Wales, where £IB,OOO had been raised and devoted to the establishment of a children’s hospital. Sister Lends, nurse in charge of the Wellington district, congratulated the branch on the wonderful work that had been done in the nursing section. There was nothing like practical work, she said. They might deal with hundreds of cases in theory, but the test came when they were asked to actually perform their duties. Those at Palmerston North had, due to the facilities offered, the best opportunity ‘in New Zealand for becoming proficient in practical work. Sister Lewis explained the official uniform and gave a number of interesting details with regard to the organisation of the Red Cross members. The knowledge given through the Red Cross teaching must have a great effect on the life of the people, she continued. Many imagined that the Red Cross was about to do the nursing profession a great deal of harm but that was quite wrong. The knowledge gained would be of great value to those in the home and could be applied in many different ways. In reply to a question, Sister Lewis said that Dr W. E. Collins, who had done a great deal for the Red Cross in New Zealand, had given a cup for competition between teams from any place in the Dominion''. It was now held by Hawera and the next competition for the trophy would be held there. She hoped there would be a number of teams from Palmerston North competing.