Arturo Ramírez, president of the Lanzarote Red Cross, took stock of the NGO's activities and achievements in the past year 2005 for the readers of LA VOZ, in addition to explaining the most ambitious projects for this year. "2005, depending on how you look at it, has been very positive, but also very negative."
One of the most successful and recent activities was the Three Kings campaign, which was described as "very positive, because more than a thousand toys have been collected, but also high-quality toys, as if the collaborators were giving the gift to their own children."
Implementation of volunteering
Among other positive things of the year, Ramírez highlighted "the implementation of volunteering", which has increased in 2005. Currently, the NGO has about a thousand registered volunteers, although about 150 work day by day in the various areas of the Red Cross helping those most in need.
The Red Cross covers practically all areas of assistance to those in need. From helping Third World countries to working with youth or the elderly. Precisely this last point was highlighted above the others by the president of the NGO, who spoke of the usefulness of telealarms, designed for those elderly people who live alone and need a channel to request help if they need it.
In this case, about 130 elderly people from all over the Island have this bracelet, which allows them to lead a life without resorting to their families or nursing homes. "If you uproot a person and take them out of their environment, you take away a lot of life. So with this device, the person lives many years in their lifelong environment."
On the other hand, the lifeguard coverage has been expanded on the beaches of the Lanzarote coast. And so, the Red Cross has incorporated a provision on Guacimeta Beach, which has recently won the Blue Flag distinction.
Shadows
Regarding material resources, the NGO complains of a "very bad" situation, as defined by the president of the NGO. "In ambulances specifically, there is a regulation of the Government of the Canary Islands that requires them to have a maximum age of eight years.
We have two ambulances that we have to decommission, although we have two new ones that are going to arrive in Lanzarote." The negative thing is that the new cars will not mean an increase in the fleet of Red Cross vehicles, an objective that Arturo Ramírez has been pursuing for some time. "We have even seen weekends without ambulances to cover all services."