Serving in an army of goodwill
"The community were so grateful that a new branch of the Salvation Army was started."
Captain Heather Rossouw, of the Salvation Army, recently gave a discussion about how the Salvation Army assists in disaster areas.
At the November Edenvale Rotary Club meeting, Capt Rossouw spoke about this as well as her experiences in assisting at disaster areas.
She said in areas affected by disasters, the Salvation Army and other international aid organisations assist the affected people as much as possible.
Capt Rossouw said the Salvation Army is, in many cases, the charity of choice in some countries due to the amount of transparency and the low administration fees of the Salvation Army.
According to Ms Linda Clarke, the secretary of the Rotary Club, Capt Rossouw has worked in South Africa, Haiti, Uganda and Nepal.
In 2014, Capt Rossouw was deployed to Uganda as a team leader who helped refugees from South Sudan.
“Every family was given building equipment, picks, shovels and cement to build homes and latrines,” said Capt Rossouw.
She said while in Uganda, the Salvation Army distributed non-food items which included mattresses, Vaseline, soap, saucepans, basins, plates and mugs.
“The Salvation Army gets donors to source goods,” said Capt Rossouw.
While in Uganda, the Salvation Army provided funding for the testing of suitable sites for boreholes.
“The community was jubilant and grateful for the borehole,” said Capt Rossouw.
The Edenvale Rotary Club meets at Mongo’s Portuguese Restaurant in Sunnyrock at 6.30pm on Monday evenings.
For more information, contact Ms Clarke on 082 929 5142.
