Red Cross Blogs

Half way through my American Red Cross internship…

By Sarah Rose
July 15, 2010 at 10:30 am

One moment its day 3 of a three week internship, then suddenly you check reality (after seeing the sights, gorging on the food, and exploring cultural diversity) and you realise you’re half way through your time living in an amazing city. Which, to be honest, is a bit of a kick in the gut.

It also means time is running out to complete a presentation, which is going to be viewed by almost every Red Cross individual you’ve met during your trip. That thought is a wee bit scarier.

However, while time may be ticking away for finalising power point presentations, the fun and games which come with an America-based internship definitely haven’t stopped delivering.

For example, the other night we went to see the musical ”Wicked” (the story behind the witches from ”the Wizard of Oz”) and Sunday gave way to patriotic celebrations as we partied our way through Independence Day. We’ve seen San Fran city on a number of ocassions, and we are still working our way through all the different types of food available in the Bay Area. Which would explain why several members of the Red Cross staff are desperate to join us for lunch and supper every day. And yes, we do have a checklist of food to eat, which we are rapidly working our way through and has now led to me gaining a few pounds…

Personally, I also managed to organise a meeting with one of the British Consulates, and together we had very interesting coversations on the purpose of the British Consul General how the British Red Cross ties in with the UK society.

The American Red Cross has been incredibly kind to us. The team – who have quickly become friends more than work colleagues – have been so accommodating and enthusiastic to show us their world of the Bay Area, and it has only impressed me and captured my admiration. The classic song lyrics of “I left my heart in San Francisco” are starting to become all the more applicable as the days go by.

Of course, that learning curve is continuing to meander through the internship too. Sitting through a disaster services meeting today gave a greater insight into how the Bay Area Red Cross prepare for, respond to, and resolve disaster situations; the principles of which I am greatly interested in. But what really grabbed my attention this time was the scope for the Youth to get involved.

While there is no set programme for youth involvement in disaster  services here (yet), maybe it is something which will be considered. Theories which were bounced to and fro were setting up programmes for the youth involving education about disaster response, which, if interested, they could work through from the beginning of their Red Cross episode until the age of 18 years when they can physically be deployed as part of the disaster response team. A more indepth look into this reveals the idea of youth being informed about the different areas of emergency response, such as logistics/communications/public speaking/media relations/etc. Then matching the individual up to their desired interest. Perhaps this could be established as early on as during the interview process, when it comes to choosing what area of Red Cross you want to enter into.

Ok, so that may seem very complex and political, but it is certainly something which could work well, being mutually beneficial for the Red Cross area and the young individual. It’s almost like fine-tuning the volunteer, so that when the moment comes to act, they do so with every bit of knowledge and confidence needed in such a situation.

And speaking of youth… wouldn’t it be great to host a few American Red Cross volunteers over here? Just so we could show them how different the British Red Cross is? Because after all, we’ve got our good points too! That was also something eagerly enquired about today, so perhaps I’ll open that question up to the big guys?

Now, aside from Red Cross tactics… the rest of this week has a trip to the Golden Gate Park and Alcatraz Prison in store. Who needs to focus on official stuff when you’ve got that kind of line up ahead of you?

Find out more about international youth volunteering and internships

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Tags: American Red Cross, interns, internships

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