The International Committee of the Red Cross recently came to the aid of residents of the Southern Philippines who were displaced or injured by Typhoon Bopha, which hit on December 4, 2012. Khatereh Rafiee, a real estate agent active at one time with the aid organization, here describes the relief efforts.
In anticipation of the storm, the Red Cross had stocked Davao Regional Hospital, the area’s main health care facility, with medical supplies. Doctors used the supplies to treat nearly 300 patients injured during the storm.
In the storm’s aftermath, Red Cross workers dispatched relief supplies and food for roughly 21,000 residents, most living in the three worst-hit areas: Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, and Surigao del Sur.
In other areas, the Red Cross worked with a local aid agency to ensure that residents had access to clean drinking water. The organization also donated construction materials and pipes to repair municipal facilities damaged during the typhoon.
Khatereh Rafiee has spent the last eight years as a real estate agent in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where she volunteers for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Khatereh Rafiee 