THE RED CROSS

The International Committee of the Red Cross, to give it its official name, sprang from the writings and ideas of the Swiss businessman Henri Dunant. In 1859 he happened to witness the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in Italy, and was appalled by the casualties and lack of medical facilities for the wounded. He pushed hard for national voluntary relief agencies that would look after wounded soldiers, and for a system of international treaties that would protect both them and medical personnel. The latter eventually resulted in the Geneva Conventions, which still govern human rights in time of war.

Yesterday was the annual collection day for the Danish Red Cross society. Since my wife is chairman of the local branch, it would be difficult for me not to participate; but I would be happy to do it anyway. The Red Cross is often associated with work in war zones, but it also does a lot of things domestically. Integrating refugees and helping their children with homework, visiting lonely people, running a second-hand clothes shop, helping people in the process of dying, and much else.

My route took me to the most rural parts of what is quite a rural area, where houses are not just set back from the main road but are up to a kilometre up a dirt track. I quite like this route, since it gives me the opportunity to see at first hand how much is going on in the local renovation market, as people turn run-down farmsteads into modern dwellings. Not everyone was at home, and of those that were, not everyone contributed; but most people did, even if it was just with a few coins. My wife was pleased with the end result.

In these straightened times, charities are finding it difficult to raise money. But the Red Cross seems to be an organisation that is much appreciated. And not just by me.

Walter Blotscher