Current Projects
Chernobyl
The Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986 contaminated countless areas in the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia with extremely hazardous radiation. Around five million people are still exposed to this invisible danger today. The consequences for those affected might include a severely weakened immune system, disabilities, cancer and early death. Children and young people are the most seriously affected.
Due to ignorance and a lack of education as well as the precarious circumstances – poverty and unemployment in particular – many people are unprotected and at risk from the radioactivity. Without external help, their situation thereby deteriorates increasingly every day.
As part of the Green Cross Social and Medical Care Programme, those in need of assistance, particularly children, receive social, psychological and medical help to counteract the effects of the pollution at different levels. Furthermore, along with their parents, they are taught how they can improve their living conditions in the contaminated environment through simple means. Green Cross thus offers them health, independence and optimism for the future.
Vietnam
During the Vietnam war (1963 – 1975), more than four million people came into contact with the highly toxic chemical weapon Agent Orange. The reason for using it was to defoliate large areas of the Vietnamese jungle as quickly as possible. The effects on people and nature have been devastating up to the present day. Dioxin, the poisonous substance contained in Agent Orange, remains in the environment over the long term and causes genetic mutations which are passed on over several generations. Therefore, more than 40 years after the war, numerous infants suffer from its direct consequences, for example, from deformities, disabilities and cancer. In Vietnam, people with physical impairments are often ostracised from society. Dependence on family members makes it impossible for them to lead a self-sufficient life.
The Green Cross Social and Medical Care Programme in Vietnam supports children, young people and families with medical and social care. Those from the first generation who were affected, as well as their children and grandchildren in particular, thereby benefit from prosthetic and orthotic devices, which enable them to participate in society. Our partners on the ground train local doctors to ensure this works in an integrated and sustainable way. Besides healthcare, participants in the Social and Medical Care Programme also benefit from psychological support and training on how their socioeconomic situation can be improved. The project includes medical and social initiatives in communities too, as well as rehabilitation and integration projects.