by Carmela Burke, International Services Volunteer 
For more than 130 years, the American Red Cross has worked with the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network to meet the needs of the world’s most vulnerable communities. The Red Cross L.A. Region International Services is offering several opportunities for you to be part of the global Red Cross Movement on a local level.
The Origins of the Red Cross: Born on the Battlefield
Are you interested in learning about the origins of the Red Cross and Geneva Conventions? Are you aware how the Red Cross fits into the global network that is dedicated to preventing and alleviating human suffering in peacetime and during armed conflict?
Volunteers and staff from Los Angeles and other American Red Cross regions can register to attend a Born of the Battlefield class. Attendees will learn the relationship between the Red Cross and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Fundamental Principle challenges in our daily life. The class will be offered one day each month for the next seven months, The class will be offered one day each month for the next seven months. Class schedules are posted in the Volunteer Connection Training Calendar:
https://volunteerconnection.redcross.org/?nd=vms_registration_view®istration_type_id=4284&jid=18704661
After completion of the class, the following volunteer opportunities are available:
1.) Participate as an International Youth Campaign Committee Leader working with groups of teenagers guiding them in their IHL advocacy strategy development and implementation: http://www.redcross.org/humanityinwar/ihl-action-campaign.
2.) Act as an International Humanitarian Law Youth Activity Coordinator to work with high school students in the promotion of IHL (develop, implement and report on activities that they will implement with the different Red Cross Youth Clubs and High Schools: http://www.redcross.org/humanityinwar/raid-cross.
3.) Organize IHL outreach events.
4.) Become a class instructor.
Restoring Family Links: Connecting Families Separated by Conflict
Are you interested in helping reconnect families separated by conflict or disaster? Are you willing to work with local agencies and Red Cross national societies to connect family members who have tried normal channels of communication before contacting the Red Cross?
The International Services Restoring Family Links (RFL) program alleviates the suffering of family members separated by armed conflict or disaster worldwide. This service is free of charge and gives families a way to restore contact with each other. The Restoring Family Links course will be offered once a month for the next seven months, beginning Dec. 12. (Classes posted in Volunteer Connection.)
After taking the Restoring Family Links (RFL) class, volunteers have the opportunity to
train to become an RFL caseworker and/or become an RFL social advocate.
Measles and Rubella Initiative: Help Locally to Protect Children Globally
Launched in 2001, the Measles & Rubella Initiative is a global health partnership led by the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. The Initiative provides technical and financial support to governments and communities for mass vaccination campaigns and disease surveillance around the world. http://www.redcross.org/what-we-do/international-services/measles-initiative
To learn more about involvement opportunities with this initiative or for other questions about International Services, please contact Svetlana.Fusekova@redcross.org., Regional International Services/Service to the Armed Forces and Veterans Lead Specialist. For more information on International Humanitarian Law, please contact Claudia.Espinosa@redcross.org, IHL Program Lead.
