Red Cross stories
Red Cross stories
Read our stories filled with humanity, resilience and the spirit of volunteering. They show how your support is helping vulnerable people in New Zealand and around the world.
7 April 2025
Mobilising the power of humanity – Red Cross service in wartime and conflict
We’re taking the time to remember those who served in the past, as well as the incredible humanitarians we continue to deploy overseas to provide relief in conflict zones.
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19 December 2024
“It was just like a war zone” – memories of Aceh
On Boxing Day 2004, a massive earthquake struck an area off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The 20-metre-high waves reached Aceh in northern Sumatra in minutes, where they smashed into the coast and destroyed everything three kilometres inland.
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19 December 2024
A day the world won’t forget
On 26 December 2004, a massive earthquake struck an area off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered tsunami waves that pummelled coastal areas at speeds of more than 500 kilometres an hour.
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19 December 2024
Boxing Day Tsunami – memories from the Maldives
When the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami reached the Maldives the waves drove thousands of tonnes of sand and 37,000 cubic metres of dangerous waste through communities.
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6 May 2024
A little bit about the Florence Nightingale Medal
The Florence Nightingale Medal is the highest Red Cross award for nurses and voluntary nursing aides. Named after the famed British nurse, it honours people who’ve distinguished themselves in times of peace or war.
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