Red Cross Involvement Of The Rwandan Genocide

Genocides happen when ethnic divisions become apparent. Many times, these ethnic divisions were due to colonization from people of different race. These cases are especially true in Africa when Europeans colonized their territory, with clear racial divisions between them (Gavin). These genocides go on because of nations acting on ignorance and refusing to help out the nations in turmoil, allowing the genocides to continue, without wasting their own resources. These nations purposefully ignoring the slaughter of people cause the nations to also be guilty of the genocide underway (“The Heart”). The genocide occurred in Rwanda in Central Africa during 1994. The decades of Tutsi oppression of Hutus and the assassination of President Habyarimana in 1994 led to the genocide in Rwanda.

The American Red Cross (ARC) is an organization that was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton and established itself as the most well-known emergency relief organization devoted to the care of war victims, disaster victims, and the suffering worldwide. Unfortunately, the ARC has been plagued with a high executive turnover, slow response to disastrous events, and mismanagement of donation funds. These problems now have the ARC facing another problem, fixing their credibility for the future.

After the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide and the lack on international intervention, Rwandan was forced to rebuild itself from scratch. Rwanda is a small country located in central Africa. Its population is divided between two ethnic groups: the hutus and the tutsis. The roots of the Rwandan genocide date back to 1924 when Belgium first took over Rwanda, formally a part of Tanzania. The Belgians viewed Tutsi superior to the hutus. Many referred to this as Hamitic hypothesis. It was motivated mainly by the fact that Tutsi were taller and thinner than hutus. This lead to a major boost in Tutsi egos and mistreatment of the Hutus for decades. This angered the Hutus leading to a major conflict between the two ethnic groups.

Throughout the 20th century, numerous acts of genocides have attempted to bring the complete elimination and devastation of large groups of people originating from various particular ethnicities. With these genocides occurring in many regions of the world, the perpetrators often organizing such crimes, have historically been larger and more powerful than the victims themselves. Often being the government and its military forces. However, the lack of international response associated with these genocides, further contributed to the devastating outcomes. On April 6,1994, the fastest killing spree of the century took place in Rwanda against the Tutsi minority population. With many warning signs having already been proclaimed prior to the start of the Rwandan genocide, I believe that with international interference, this bloodshed could have ultimately been prevented.

The American Red Cross is a major organization in the United States and around the world. Clara Barton founded the American chapter in 1881. She was a public servant who decided to get involved during the civil war by attending to wounded soldiers and feeding them on the battlefield. Her sense of humanitarian work was only strengthened by her trip to Europe during the Franco Prussian war, where she discovered the initiative of Henri Dunant (Reitman, 1996). After the battle of Solfinero, this Swiss banker was shocked by the carnage of war and decided to gather doctors and volunteers around the village to help tend to the wounded. This action motivated him to create a nonpartisan organization that can focus on caring for people wounded in wars and conflicts regardless of their origin. (Reitman, 1996). The organization was ratified in the 1864 Geneva Convention by twelve countries and later by many others. The United States Red Cross was founded due to the efforts of Barton in Washington (Reitman, 1996). The first chapter of the national American Red Cross was created in upstate New York. Later, the organization received funding to create its national headquarters in Washington. Since then, the Red Cross has benefited form a close relationship with Washington as it was created by congressional charter more than a century ago and plays a

Once the Civil War had ended Barton set up the Missing Soldiers office that took care of locating and identifying prisoners, missing men and dead men buried in unmarked graves. The office received over 64,000 letters from families and friends of missing soldiers, requesting Barton’s help in finding them, Clara and her small staff were able to locate over 23,000 men both dead and alive. As time progressed Clara’s devotion to her work soon took a toll on her health. Barton’s doctor advised her to head to Europe for some time of her own and time to get some well-earned rest. Nevertheless, while on her leisure trip Clara came across the International Red Cross association, established in Geneva, Switzerland and was invited to assist in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871. Consequently she decided to dig a little deeper into the International Red Cross committee and came across a book titled “A Memory of Solferino” written by Henry Dundant the founder of the global Red Cross network. From this book she learned the morals upon which the

The most notable achievement made by Clara Barton is the founding of the American Red Cross. After the war, she took a deserved cure vacation to Europe. While on her stay, she came in contact with some members of the National Red Cross Committee. With her heart set on creating an American Red Cross, she returned to America. The government was hesitant to begin the organization. They were afraid of getting entangled into foreign affairs. Finally, “it was finally approved in 1882 at the Geneva Convention.” (Former and Garraty) Thanks to the Clara Barton’s work, there are nearly 64,000 disaster responses yearly made by the American Red Cross. (“Disaster

On April 7th, 1994 in the small East African country of Rwanda the darkest and most brutal tragedy occurred, the Rwandan genocide. 800,000 Tutsi’s and Rwandan men and women were grossly slaughtered by the Hutu government. This was one of the worst genocides in history and yet not many people spoke about it, why? I believe many people did not say anything is because they were scared that they would be caught and then killed. A man by the name of Philippe Gaillard was a part of the Red Cross international committee in Kigali. He was one of the few people who spoke up about the tragedies occurring in Rwanda. He told his friend who was a news reporter for the BBC in France and published his story. By Gaillard not “shutting up” about the situation it made the Hutu extremists embarrassed and this lead to the Hutu government allowing the Red Cross committee to have safe passage throughout Rwanda. “America, the beautiful America, the brave”, was what America was known for being, but after the ethnic cleansing of the Rwandan people it changed.

She opened paths to the new field of volunteer service. Her charisma alone could rally volunteers to meet whatever crises threatened the country. The American Red Cross was largely devoted to disaster relief for the first 20 years of its existence.

Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross after becoming involved in the work of the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War. Her heart of giving and helping others convinced her that an American chapter was needed in her country in 1881. The ARC is a humanitarian organization that is dependent on the contributions of time, blood, and money from the American public to support its multiple lifesaving services and programs. The ARC’s mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. The ARC from its humble beginnings and up to recently has provided great support the American public and military during

The American Red Cross is a program that helps people worldwide. The American Red Cross has helped people from all over the country. The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. The American Red Cross was founded by Henry Dunant, who was a Swiss Business man who helped soldiers on both sides of a battlefield after the Battle of Solfino. The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Both Founders didn’t know that the founding of the American Red Cross would become big as it is today.

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton after she saw the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. Barton was inspired by the values of Henry Dunant, the founder of the global Red Cross, who wanted to help the injured and sick during the times of war without regards to nationality. While in Europe, she helped with relief efforts during the Franco- Prussian War and these experiences pushed her to bring the Red Cross to the United States. For the next twenty years, the American Red Cross provided domestic and international disaster relief. While disaster relief and emergency assistance used to be the primary operations, services in other areas are now also offered. The Red Cross helps military families, collects and distributes blood,

The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides significant help to those in need. The organization is a branch of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The organization’s initial goals were to provide humanitarian efforts and other relief during trying times. For example, many felt that the group was formed in response to the destruction caused by the American Civil War. Founder and the group’s first President, Clara Barton, believed that America should be prepared for future catastrophes, but there was widespread doubt that the nation would ever again experience anything as disastrous as the Civil War. Nonetheless, the organization was formed on

The American Red Cross has been the world’s ministering angel, for more than one hundred years, through its remarkable service to all mankind. The formation of the organization is far from a fairytale story that depicts the lives of women who waited to assist wounded individuals. Instead, the women courageously took it upon themselves to go into the war zone to help as many soldiers as they could. The American Red Cross continues to flourish as it rests on the solid structure, which was built upon loving people. Although the American Red Cross has been the answer for a lot of people in distressed situations, there has been a plethora of organizations created that seem to have a corresponding mission. In order for the American Red Cross to continue on a path of longevity, it is essential that the organization continues to improve its structure.

The Doctors without Borders organization was founded in 1971 in Paris due to the efforts of French doctors that originally worked for the Red Cross in Biafra during its civil war. The doctors were frustrated by the treatment of the Nigerian Troops’ to aid workers. Thus, upon returning to France, some doctors broke their contracts with the Red Cross and began to provide humanitarian aid not in conjunction with the regulations of the Red Cross. The doctors were firm believers that, “all people should have the right to medical care and that the needs of these people supersede respect for national borders” (MSF, 2001). During the same time period, a group of French journalists were trying to focus the attention of the world to people who were struggling and dying from natural disasters in countries like Iran and Afghanistan. These journalists believed that French doctors should help out with these natural disasters. In conjunction with the journalists, the doctors formed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Starting from 1971, they have had a huge impact in helping shape history. A major event in the history of Doctors without Borders was helping