Red Cross restates commitment to better community lifestyles
The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) has restated its commitment to improving community lifestyles in the country.
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The society, in collaboration with the British Red Cross (BRC), says the resolve has informed donations of resilience items to some communities in Lagos.
It said on Saturday in Lagos that communities such as Agboyi 1, Agboyi 2, Agboyi 3 and Odo Ogun in Kosofe Local Government Area of the state, had received the donations.
According to the society, no fewer than 920 households receive the items.
The Director, Disaster Management of NRCS, Mr Benson Agbro, said that the donation was part of the NRCS and BRC Disaster Management Programme in the country. Agbro said that the project had been running for three years.
He noted that it started with Lagos State, Federal Capital Territory and Imo but was recently extended to Delta and Edo.
According to him, the resilience items include rain boots, rain coats, handheld flashlights, mosquito nets, mosquito repellants, buckets and three-in-one solar powered lights with radio and USB chargers.
The Branch Secretary of the society, Mr Olakunle Lasisi, said that the items would help to improve the lifestyles of the recipients.
“We’re doing this to build the beneficiaries’ resilience. So once it rains and there is flooding, there will be a limit to what their worries will be,” he said.
Lasisi said that the NRCS had carried out a community assessment earlier to ascertain the needs and choices of the vulnerable households.
“They told us what their needs were; we let them prioritise and choose the ones most important to them,” he said.
He thanked the Australian government, Australian Aid, Australian Red Cross and also the BRC for their support.
Lasisi said that with more support, NRCS could reach out to more vulnerable communities.
One of the recipients, Mr Disu Waliu, said that the BRC assistance had a great impact on the Agboyi communities.
“We’re a riverine area, flooding is a seasonal thing once it rains. They also gave us money to boost our businesses. Even last year they gave us foodstuffs,” he added.
NAN/Wumi
