Red Cross Team’s Work For Refugees

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31672, 7 May 1968, Page 16

Red Cross Team’s Work For Refugees

The New Zealand Red Cross refugee welfare team, after training at Quang Ngai, has begun work in An Khe. The team is looking after six camps with a population of 5140.

One of the camps, Dong Che, is for repatriated Viet Cong and their families. Close liaison has been established with the New Zealand surgical team at the Qui Nhon hospital and the joint services medical team at Bong Son. A big problem at An Khe is a shortage of water. There are few good drinking wells, purification of drinking water leaves much to be desired, and rain is short for irrigation. Refugees have been digging new wells under the supervision of Mr D. A Harper, of Otaki. He has set up a pump and piping to provide primitive irrigation. Signs of bad hygiene and

poor nutrition are evident in the refugee camps. The team’s nurse, Miss M. McTamney, of Masterton, is busily occupied. Scabies, and incipient bronchitis, anaemia, worms, infected eyes and ears, diarrhoea, respiratory ailments and low-grade fever are all evident Bubonic plague broke out in one of the camps and 40 casea were dealt with. Eight persons died. The team has been instrumental in having a school built in one camp, and now looks after two schools. Mr J. W. Talbot, of Onga Onga, teaches English in one school three times a week I and all the team members are 'learning Vietnamese.