Red Cross
During a meeting a few days after the bomb,together with many representatives from NGO s who were involved with post bomb relief work,we were told that 1) All the patients who were in the Hospitals around Kuta/Denpasar would have the costs of medical treatment paid out of donations received. 2) The expenses of the NGO,s would also be reimbursed by the Red Cross..... I believe number one has actually been done but I understand that this was not covered by Red Cross but another Organisation. I would like to know by whom ? I would also like to see in detail...a report from Red Cross as to where the money donated to them has be distributed.....I have been told that the initial promise of reimbursing the NGOs has been dropped. Many of us who were involved from day one gave everything we could to assist in the emergency care at Sanglah Hospital.Crisis Care cleared our clinic of just about all our bandages and other medical aid (two cars full) medicine and wheelchairs and numerous other items and delivered it to the wards in Sanglah.We then made a return trip to Lovina to collect more items...at this stage it left our clinic depleted of all useful medical aid normally given to the patients in this area.We also donated more than five million rupiah to purchase medicine and other necessities which were further needed for on going treatment for all the injured.We all held the fort as it were...until help came in the form of the trained teams from Australia. When medical aid eventually came pouring in to Bali for the victims,we were given permission by the donors to replace our stock from donated medicine. However,what we didnt know until later was that the boxes of medicine we took back to our clinic were ALL EXPIRED and useless.Soon after,a new Government ruling was issued to this effect.The Indonesian Government will not accept any expired medicine to Bali and it WILL be examined and returned to the sender if it was unacceptable.This caused us a huge headache as we had donated all of our stock and then had it replaced with useless medicine, which we were obliged to destroy. We actually were asked to hand it over to a central point for collection by Government officials....but our trust in that idea was somewhat unsure. Now we are unable to replenish our clinic and have also "lost" all of our operating funds....it has left us and many like us in a very difficult position and not really able to continue our work here in the poorest villages in Bali. Thankfully we have some stock,but very little.And where do we find the funds to go on with our work? We feel a little let down to say the least. So many people have levelled critisism towards Crisis Care for not being up to date with our book keeping (this is being done right now) but if Red Cross are not made to answer their critics and put rumours to rest once and for all, the misunderstandings will continue ad infinitum......I look forward to seeing their report on this....please if anyone has some information...post on our forum.....Thank you. G.