Our help leads to flourishing 

Dear reader, 

The new year has been underway for several months now. In the previous edition of the Henry+, I mentioned that I am impressed by the impact our organization has on people's lives. Over the past few months, I was touched by this again. At the beginning of this year, I travelled to our partner country, South Sudan. I was in a transit camp for Sudanese refugees in Renk. What I saw there was inhumane. No one should be living like this. People are not allowed to live like this. South Sudan is 70% dependent on humanitarian aid. I saw how volunteers from the national Red Cross department have been doing the best they can to help. Where possible they provide clean water, food, medical assistance and Shelter. In the past months it has become clear how important neutrality is in providing humanitarian assistance, especially in the event of a conflict. Neutrality is one of the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross. Jan Tijmen Ninck Blok and Bastiaan van Blokland explain why this principle is essential and what you can do to ensure neutrality. If you find this a challenging subject, I encourage you to discuss this with your colleagues.  

More and more I realise that the efforts of the Red Cross go beyond simply helping. Your support also offers hope. By offering a helping hand we encourage people to flourish. This can occur in many ways. A listening ear offers new hope for the future of refugees, Rahel Karim tells in The Day of. A heroine training, see the portrait of Pek Lan, gives women new self-confidence in their daily lives. Through the Mental Health podcast (portrait Jules Tack) we show young people that they are not alone in their struggles.  

Our support to partner countries is also a good example of how our aid can lead to a revival. In Arond the World, Marianne Deelder explains the power and importance the cooperation with a partner country. The Zambian Red Cross flourished into a strong and independent organization, partly thanks to the unconditional support of the Dutch Red Cross. As Red Crossers, we not only help the most vulnerable, but we also support each other within the organization. In The Red Heart, volunteer Klaasje Hoek shares her story and gives an example of what faith in someone else can do to the self-confidence of a fellow volunteer. It's wonderful to see and read how we not only let the people asking for help shine, but also each other. 

The sun is starting to shine again, and the events are getting underway. In At the table with we talk with volunteers about the upcoming event season. With so much effort throughout the year, can we still speak of an event season? In between all the visits, I also discovered a new branch of the Red Cross: biking. Volunteers from Drenthe took me on a bike-training. During this training I was able to experience what it is like to be a biker and what you do in this position. On forehand I was warned: once you catch the bike bug, you can't get rid of it. My conclusion: biking is super fun, but also very difficult. Curious whether I cought the bike-virus? Then watch the video in Into the country with. Bikers and all the other volunteers, good luck next spring!  

I wish everyone a beautiful spring and happy reading. 

Harm Goossens 
Managing Director