M6 U4 Reading
I am pleased to have this chance today to talk to you about the United
Nations, or the UN, as it is more often referred to. The UN is an international organization made up of countries that want to promote world peace. I am very happy to have been chosen to be a Goodwill Ambassador for them. Being a Goodwill Ambassador means that I visit countries where the UN operates programmes to help people. I feel very honoured to have been able to take on this role. Later I shall tell you about some of the work I have done. First I should give you a short description of the UN.
So, when was the United Nations set up? It was set up just after the Second World War, in October 1945 by 51 countries. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN--192 countries altogether. The UN has four main functions: to keep international peace; to develop friendly relationships among nations; to work together in solving international political conflicts and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for organizing the actions or work of different nations.
As you know, the UN touches the lives of people everywhere. The
organization is helping end some of the world's most horrible conflicts. The UN does not have its own army. Instead, it borrows soldiers from different countries that belong to the UN. With the help of these armies and other worthy organizations, the UN assists the victims of wars and disasters. In addition, the UN helps protect human rights and works to improve
international laws, for example, those on child labour and on equal rights for minorities and women.
That is a little about the UN. Now let me tell you about the work I have been
doing with them. My job with the UN is not paid but voluntary, and as I said before, I visit countries where the UN has programmes to help people. So, how do I help by visiting these countries? Well, if I visit these countries, the television and press will follow and record my visits. This will increase people's knowledge of the work of the UN. In addition, my visits will
encourage people working on the projects and draw local people's attention to the situation.
I have visited many countries in Africa. Recently, I was fortunate enough to travel to South Africa, where I met some women who have organized
themselves into a group. They collect approximately 1.35 yuan per day from each member and add it to some money contributed by the government. With this, the women have enough money to acquire materials to make baskets. They then sell these at the market for a profit. With luck their group will be able to expand and maybe set up a shop. Such programmes can
transform people's lives by giving them the ability to provide for themselves and their families. There are lots of worthwhile programmes like this under the umbrella of the UN that have helped millions of people across the world.
Apart from the urgent problems caused by wars and conflicts, the UN helps countries with other problems such as lack of education, starvation, disasters, AIDS and other diseases. At a UN meeting in 2000, all of its members agreed to try and meet eight development goals by the year 2015. One of the goals is to ensure that clean water is available to everyone, as in many places water is not safe to drink unless it is boiled. Another is to ensure all children complete primary education. For more information, you may like to look it up on the UN website. So you see, with the work of the UN the world has been brought
closer together.
M6 U4 Project
Changing the world -my commitment 20 October
Arrived here to find everything was in chaos. Have not had time to write my diary for a whole week. The whole island is flooded. Many of the people have fled to the mountains to escape. The hospital is badly damaged and in a mess; it cannot be used at the moment. This is a new experience for me. Usually, I am working in areas that have dry climates, such as Kenya and Sudan. In Sudan, we set up centres to ensure that people got food, and we checked the health of babies to make sure they were putting on weight. We also gave
children shots to stop them dying from diseases. However, that campaign was conducted in villages where there was lots of fighting, far from the city.
Running from one place to another became a way of life. The situation is very different here, as are the problems. Instead of sand blowing everywhere, there is mud and water everywhere, making it difficult to travel from place to place. Yesterday, my colleagues on the medical team and I (two doctors, one nurse-- me--and two assistants) found a vacant health centre on the north side of the town. We are going to set up a temporary clinic there. Medical supplies are now on their way from abroad. We have started to clean the health centre. One of the health problems is that people who need to take medicines regularly
cannot get hold of them in a disaster such as this. Small injuries also need to be taken care of, especially as it is so muddy and damp. The majority of wounds are from walls and roofs that have fallen on people. The water makes it difficult for the cuts and wounds to get better and easy for bacteria to spread.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the city, shelter and access to food and clean water are big problems. The fields and harvest have been destroyed, and so a lack of food will be a problem in the future.
Food has started to arrive, but this is a problem as people have started to worry
that they will not get enough. This morning, there were fights as crowds of people tried to get food. It reminded me of my time in Sudan, where several Doctors without Borders staff were attacked as people tried to get the food.
One good thing here is that many people can speak English or French. This makes it easier to communicate and find out about people's problems. When you can't speak the same language, it is sometimes very difficult to find out what is wrong with someone. However, my acting skills are very good, so I can still communicate with people, even when there is a language barrier and no interpreter around. It seems that many people here just need to talk, so I am finding that my job is not limited to being a nurse. It is also being a person who can listen to and comfort others.
It is quite horrible to imagine losing everything, including some of your family. Our first job here was to try to organize a place to bury the people who were killed. We needed to do this as soon as possible to stop disease spreading. That was a really horrible job and I felt so sorry for their relatives.
When I think back to all the experiences that I have had around the world since joining Doctors without Borders, I feel that I have been very lucky to be able to help others and do something worthwhile. Now I must think about tomorrow. We hope the clinic will be open and then I won't have any time to write my diary. This experience makes me appreciate all the things I have and gives me the chance to see things from another angle. I know ! can't change the whole world, but I'm proud that I can help here and there, and make a difference to people's lives.