JUNIOR RED CROSS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27874, 24 January 1956, Page 8

JUNIOR RED CROSS

WORLD LEADER VISITS NEW ZEALAND (New Zealand Press Association) WANGANUI, January 23. The Junior Red Cross movement in New Zealand had progressed in both membership and activity over the last three years, and this trend was evident throughout the world, said Mr George Tracewski, assistant-director of Junior Red Cross from Geneva, when he began a New Zealand tour in Wanganui today. New Zealand children were doing a fine job by raising money to enable children from refugee camps to go into Swiss sanatoria for tuberculosis treatment, he said. It cost £9O a year to keep a child in a sani-, torium, and New Zealand now had its thirteenth child there. Mr Tracewski said the power of his organisation was derived only, from the activities of different members round the world. There were now 74 different national societies, and more than 44,000.000 junior members. New Zealand was, he believed, the remotest Junior Red Cross country from the headquarters in Switzerland. He had come to New Zealand to see and to hear what the movement was doing. Although the general idea was the same throughout the world, the individual application could vary very much. The aim of the headquarters was to be well informed of the practical initiative taken in the different countries to meet human needs. Mr Tracewski hoped that with his visit New Zealand members would becdme more internationally-minded, and more conscious of the needs of other countries. Although the greatest work of the Red Cross was done in war-time, there was still a great deal to be done in so-called peace times with disease, floods and disasters on Red Cross activities.

Mr Tracewski said that his organisation did not recognise any barriers. There were strong Red Cross movements in the what were known as the Red countries. Such countries were helped with clothing and food in times of disasters, and they responded by helping other countries. Visits were exchanged with those countries. Belgium was planning to send a delegation to Moscow shortly.