The production of soya bean milk by the Refugee Nutritional Aid Committee has been subsidized and a huge quantity of soya bean milk and soya bean residue in the form of cookies has been supplied to the camps for the children, nursing mothers and pregnant women. Expert advise is also given on questions of diet so as io prevent undernourishment and diseases like beri beri and scum There are 56,000 children under fourteen and 17,000 under six in the camps. These have been greatly aided by the Child Welfare Society of New York, through generous donations towards the production of bean milk, and the American Red Cross has made a grant of $15,000 through the Red Cross Committee to the Chinese Medical Association. Invaluable work has also been rendered by the Public Health Nursing Service by the assist ance they have given in nursing and sanitation service.
The clothing and provision of bedding for refugees and for hospitals has been an enormous task. With about 300,000 refugees in streets, alleyways and in private camps, the need for help in this direction can be realised. Mrs. W. S. New undertook to provide this want and her "work and that of her large number of assistants and voluntary women workers have formed one of the most important functions of the Red Cross Committee and the work has been carried out in a way that the Committee itself, through its own agencies, could hardly Have attempted.
The Refugee Committee assumed responsibility for the financial control of the several societies, which in the past cared for large numbers of refugees, but owing to lack of funds have had to apply for assistance. These camps, include the Federation of Charity Organizations, Refugee Section, International Relief Committee and the World Red Swastika Society, with a total of 140,000 refugees. Then the Nantao zone added another 150,000 destitute people who are being maintained at the rate of $2.70 each per month, amounting to $400,000 a month. There are also other small groups, which are being brought from time to time under. the control of the Red Cross Refugee Committee, The normal cost of maintenance per month mounts to about $360,000.
The responsibility assumed by the Committee includes the feeding of all the refugee camps and some of those not in camps. A careful check on all supplies and cash grants and the elimination of any leakage between the supply and their recipient refugees is also maintained through the Inspection Committee, The feeding of refugees is an enormous task and rice has to be bought about two months in advance. The rice for February was ordered in December.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.