People helping people for a better world

19/08/2012 – Colombo, Sri Lanka: Be it a tsunami, a war, floods, famine, landslides, tornados, or what ever the natural disaster may be, in the aftermath of each and every one of it, we certainly know that there will be help coming, and that people, whom you never have met or know who they are, will come rushing to your aid in order to help you to come out from the status that you are in. This service has been the corner stone of every nation, every society’s dosage of recovering.

August 19th holds the designation of World Humanitarian Day. The United Nations encourages us to note this date as a time to recognize those who face danger and adversity in order to help others. An online dictionary defines a humanitarian as one who is devoted to the promotion of human welfare and the advancement of social reforms.

Those engaged in humanitarian work are not saints; they are not persons who should be placed in a separate category of elite people. They are men and women who have chosen to commit a part of their life to helping others. Each and every person has the capacity to promote human welfare and advance social reforms. Each person can be a humanitarian.

“We at Sri Lanka Red Cross have been carrying out service to the public for over 75 years now. It would not have been a possibility if it wasn’t for the thousands and thousands of volunteers who have come and gone in these years to carry the real sprit of the Red Cross to the most vulnerable” says Jagath Abeysinghe the President of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society.

“The success of our aid to people is our people itself. If they were not here to be with us to carry out our services, then we will merely be an emblem with no meaning”

In Sri Lanka many events have been organized through the week to commemorate this day to thank millions of humanitarians who have given they’re time and service to help another.