Thousands march to mark 150 years of the Red Cross

Jun 27, 2009, 21:59 GMT

The waterfountain (jet d\'eau) of Geneva, Switzerland, is illuminated to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of Solferino and foundation of the International Red Cross Committee, 24 June 2009. EPA/CHRISTIAN BRUN

Solferino, Italy - At least 8,000 people started a torch-lit march Saturday evening to mark the Battle of Solferino, in northern Italy, the event that led to the creation of the Red Cross.

'It's really a very good thing to see so many people, especially young people, who are motivated to be committed to humanitarian work,' Jacob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Carrying large flags of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and glowing red torches the marchers intend to follow paths rescue workers and medics took during the battle to retrieve wounded soldiers and bring them to safety and medical care.

Tens of thousands of soldiers were wounded and killed during the one day of fighting on June 24, 1859, between Franco-Sardinian forces and Austrian troops.

Henri Dunant, a Swiss businessman who witnessed the battle and the carnage, was moved by the lack of adequate medical care and began to help the soldiers.

In his memoir, Dunant wrote, that 'the women, seeing that I made no distinction between nationalities, followed my example, showing the same kindness to all these men whose origins were so different, and all of whom were foreigners to them.'

His idea from Solferino, to build neutral volunteer medical services to aid during wars, led to the creation of the Red Cross movement which, 150 years later, boasts millions of workers and volunteers in over 186 countries and territories, offering assistance in times of peace, conflict and natural disasters.

The march is the culminating event of a week-long 'humanitarian camp' the organization set up, which brings together 500 youth from 149 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, to come up with a ten-year global action plan for the world's largest humanitarian movement.

Also participating are thousands of aid workers and volunteers from the Italian, French, German and other national societies.

Many of the Italians have been involved in the ongoing rescue and aid efforts to help victims of the recent earthquake which devastated a section of the country. Other participants came directly from similar disaster sites and conflict zones.

Abu Baker, from the Sierra Leone Red Cross, 32, said: 'I am with the Red Cross for life.'

He joined the movement after he saw the power the emblem - a red cross on a white background - could have during the civil war which ripped through his country for a decade.

In one instance, armed men were about to enter a hospital which was caring for wounded child soldiers - youth who were forcibly recruited into the rebel movements in the country.

'They were about to slaughter them all, right there,' Abu Baker recalled. He was at the hospital caring for his injured father.

'But then they saw the emblem and they stopped. They would not do it in front of the red cross and that is why those children are alive today,' he said.

The torch-lit march, to honour Dunant and the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies will take about three hours and cover 8.8 kilometres.