RELIEF IN EUROPE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 277, 23 November 1945, Page 4

RELIEF IN EUROPE

C.0.R.5.0. COMMITTEE TO BE FORMED IN WANGANUI ORGANISATION EXPLAINED The Organisation o£ Relief Services Overseas, generally known as C.O.R. 5.0., was explained yesterday by the Rev. A. D. Lowe (Wellington), who represents a number of churches on the council of this body. He was in Wanganui as a preliminary to lhe formation of a local committee which will further the work of C.0.R.5.0. The object of such committees, laid Mr. Lowe, was to co-ordinate the efforts of voluntary relief organisations such as the Red Cross and the churches. C.0.R.5.0., distinct from U.N.R.R.A., was a voluntary body which aimed to send picked workers overseas to help the activities of U.N.R.R.A. officials, Mr. Lowe explained. All arrangements with U.N.R.R.A. were made officially by the Government, but C.0.R.5.0. was authorised to launch a national appeal for funds to pay field allowances to the workers it would be sending overseas. “C.0.R.5.0. received about 600 600 offers of service, and from the.se 200 men and women with the necessary qualifications have been chosen,” Mr. Lowe said. "We hope to send two teams, representing 25 personnel, to . Greece shortly. The preliminary costs of this have been underwritten by the Red Cro s so that the teams can make a start with their work in Greece before the European winter ends. The Australian section of C.0.R.5.0. already has four teams there looking after returning dis. placed persons. “This work involves checking identities, provision of clothing and food, and delousing treatment with D.D.T. to prevent the spread of epidemic disease*,” he added. “We have been told that some of the refugees object strongly to the compulsory bathing, not having had a bath for four or five years. Part ot the work was the care of animals as well as humans, there being a grave shortage of animals for agricultural work as a result of the deliberate slaughter of livestock by the Nazis before they reireated. To remedy this shortage Australian C.0.R.5.0. officials had engaged experienced northern Australian hunters to capture and tame 4000 wild buffalo, which would be shipped to the Balkans as farm animals. Mr. Lowe said that arrangements would probably be made to buy draught horses in New Zealand. The situation was so bad in the Balkans, Mr. Lowe said that women were taking the place of animals in drawing ploughs. Because of their lack of adequate clothing, they did much of this work at night for the sake of modesty. Already several million acres of swamp land had been sprayed from the air to kill disease-bearing insec.s. “One of the projects we hope to assist with from New Zealand is the restoration of the educational system in Greece. It is estimated that it will take at least two more years to resettle the millions of displaced persons scattered over Europe, and that some form of relief will have to be provided for four or five years until the devastated countries can look after themselves again." Mr. Lowe said that there was a great deal of relief work to be done in China, but it had not been possible to organise much vet. although many American relief societies were operating independently of U.N.R.R.A. and CORSO. The Chinese Government, had' asked New Zealand to send relief teams, but while personnel was available there was no money yet to meet the costs, which would have to be provided by voluntary contributions. One estimate of China’s needs was that to provide adequate clothing it would be necessary to have 7o per cent, of the world’s output of textiles. That would ot course, not be possible, Mr. Lowe added. China was handicapped by not having either sufficient machinery or raw materials to clothe her own population, which was still largely dependent on the product of hand looms. , , , Mr. Lowe said that local churches had promise!, support for C.0.R.5.0-when when a Wanganui committee was formed to collect clothing and raise voluntary funds. A national organiser would Visit the city shortly, and to stimulate interest a supply of talkie films dealing with the woik of C.0.R.5.0. and U.N.R.R.A. would be made available.