Irish Red Cross Delegate heads-up health position in Indonesia

Vivien is the third Irish Red Cross Delegate to be deployed directly by our international Red Cross partner organisations in the Banda Aceh area. She will join John Rowland and Daire O’Reilly, both of south Dublin city, who are already distributing emergency stocks to people there.

Vivien (35) will be in charge of co-ordinating and managing all health interventions, including Emergency Response Units in the tsunami affected regions for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

This is a very senior position in a challenging area, with wide areas of responsibility including liaising with the Indonesian government and aid agencies to ensure that health services are provided to everyone.

Nearly a quarter of a million people were killed (232,732) in Indonesia (total death toll for all tsunami countries: 286,042) and most of these were in or around the city of Banda Aceh, while close to half a million people (417,000) remain homeless there.

An experienced delegate, who has served most recently in Myanmar (Burma) checking the health condition of prisoners there, Vivien has also worked in Cambodia, Sudan and Somalia.

A native of Loughrea, Co. Galway, Vivien speaks the Cambodian language of Khmer, in addition to French and English. She enjoys returning to the family home at least once a year.

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