The American Red Cross Magazine (Vol. 8, No. 2, April 1913) — John Shaqi
The American Red Cross Magazine (Vol. 8, No. 2, April 1913)American National Red Cross
History
The American Red Cross Magazine (Vol. 8, No. 2, April 1913)
American National Red Cross
American National Red Cross -- Periodicals; Red Cross and Red Crescent -- Periodicals
Our investigations have been confined chiefly to the cities, where
several hundreds or thousands of refugees are gathered, but we have also
looked into the condition of a dozen or more villages and have found
that in general the villagers have been kind to the refugees and have
given them food and shelter, and have lent them clothing and bedding;
but in some places the villagers have thrust the refugees into stables
and broken-down hovels, with little or no clothing and bedding, and
just enough food to keep body and soul together. In some instances
the unfortunate, defenceless women and girls have been forced into
prostitution.
The Constantinople Chapter of the American Red Cross has established
relief work in Konia and Broussa along the lines indicated above. In
Konia a systematic canvass of the city and surrounding villages has been
made, and bedding and clothing distributed according to need; in many
cases eight or ten people were found sharing one quilt, and women and
children walking about the frozen streets with bare feet. For people in
the city we distributed tickets having the articles they were to receive
indicated on them, and the distribution was made on the mission premises.
The government, however, forbade us to carry on independent work and
insisted that all articles for distribution must be handed over to them;
we were unwilling to accept this condition, so work was stopped for the
time being. In Broussa an effort has been made to get the people into
more sanitary quarters than they now occupy; we found many places where
eight, ten and even twelve people were packed into a tiny mud-floored
room about ten feet square, damp and dismal, and with one or two of
the family sick—in one case three people, one with ulcers and two with
dysentery, reposing under one small and filthy quilt. Not only must these
people be gotten speedily into more healthy surroundings, but some sort
of sanitary supervision must be established over the quarters to which
they are to be removed. It is our expectation to open one or more soup
kitchens and inaugurate some medical work.
We have turned over the city of Eski-Shehir to the Germans, who promise
to attend to its needs and to those of the surrounding region. We hope
through the above arrangements to get into direct touch with more than
half the refugees in Asia Minor, and trust that where our work is unable
to reach them other helpers may come forward to tide them over this first
difficult winter.
ACTIVITIES OF THE RED CRESCENT SOCIETY
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