Delegación Regional en Santo Domingo
12 de septiembre, 2001
Montserrat Red Cross rebuilds from the ashes
by: John Humphreys

The playground built by the Red Cross for evacuee children in the newly-developed settlement of Lookout helps give life to the community.

On 18 July 1995, the Soufriere Volcano on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat erupted suddenly into life, blanketing the capital of this British overseas territory in clouds of ash thick enough to cause darkness at mid-day. In the following weeks and months, eruptions, volcanic explosions, and lava flows continued with terrifying regularity, finally forcing the population of 11,000 to abandon the dangerous southern half of the island and relocate to a more secure zone in the north. The volcano has been relatively quiet since 1998, but in the intervening years many Montserratians have left the island to try to build a new life elsewhere. However, the current population of about 5,000 remains determined to sustain a functioning community on the only part of the island which is still habitable. The local Red Cross, an overseas branch of the British Red Cross, has played a major role in this reconstruction effort.

From the first days of the crisis, six years ago, the Montserrat Red Cross worked closely with the local authorities to assist people displaced by the Soufriere eruption. Managing shelters and providing food and other relief goods to the victims, the Branch built up a reputation for energy and service. Support flowed in from neighbouring National Societies and Branches, the Federation´s Caribbean Regional Delegation, and the British government. It was a time of "displacement, evacuation, trauma, and fear", according to Red Cross Executive Committee President Lystra Osborne.

Once the initial crisis was past, the emphasis switched to rebuilding the shattered community in the northern half of the island, where facilities were few. The Red Cross took the initiative in setting up a 50-place home for the elderly, and recently built a temporary headquarters in the small community of Lookout, where a new housing estate shelters families evacuated from the south. The headquarters doubles as a community centre, and is sturdily constructed so that it can act as a relief distribution centre if necessary. Next to it, children enjoy themselves in a new playground, built by the Red Cross with locally-raised funds. "In rebuilding a shattered community, some kind of centre is vital for everyone´s well-being" says Dr. Ronnie Cooper, the Montserrat Red Cross Health Advisor. In the months to come, the Red Cross hopes to raise funds for the construction of a new headquarters building, centrally-located in the new community which has grown up on the island's northern hills. Part of the facility would be rented out to ensure sustainability.

Although the Montserrat Red Cross has rebuilt from the ashes, everyone on the island is aware of the threat still posed by Soufriere. A volcanic observatory closely monitors the mountain, and the Red Cross has worked with regional bodies to develop a Volcanic Crisis Mass Casualty Management Plan. Montserrat, however, is only one of several islands in the Eastern Caribbean that host a "Ring of Fire" of some 30 volcanic sites. The potential for tragedy is enormous - in 1902, 28,000 people died on the nearby island of Martinique when Mount Pelee suddenly erupted. And as if to underline the ever-present threat, slope-collapses and movements in the crater of Soufriere threw a massive dust cloud 35,000 feet into the atmosphere as recently as the end of July.

Residents take the air on the verandah of a home for the elderly, constructed at the initiative of the Montserrat Red Cross.

Plymouth, the former capital of Montserrat, is being slowly buried in lava and ash following its total evacuation in 1996.

Marja Naarendorp of the Federation´s Caribbean Regional Delegation and Dr. Ronnie Cooper of the Montserrat Red Cross inspect the new Red Cross community centre at Lookout.