Dr Rutovitz

After yesterday‘s celebrations I had a quiet day. That did not mean I had a lie in. Some guests were leaving by 07:30 in order to drive back south.

However it was a lovely sunny morning and I was an able to enjoy that.

In the evening I attended a lecture at church in memory of one of our former ministers, the Very Rev Dr Bill McDonald. Bill was a lovely man and a tremendous preacher who required you to think and interpret what was in the Bible. Bill conducted our marriage, christened our children and invited me to become an elder some 30 years ago. In honour of him, following his death in 2015 , the family set up a series of lectures.

The first lecture was 3 years ago and was given by Alan Little, the former BBC reporter who became Bill’s son in law through his marriage to Bill’s daughter Sheena. Alan introduced this evening’s speaker with memories of Bill’s approach to people which was very much what we’d now call person-centred.

Alan had first met Dr Denis Rutovitz in Bosnia when Dr Rutovitz was, as A volunteer, taking supplies and medication to those affected by the war. He co-founded Edinburgh Direct Aid which has helped refugees and victims ever since.

It was a fascinating lecture detailing the experiences of providing aid in areas of the world ravaged by war or natural disaster. There were times of fun and excitement and other times of sadness and death.

There were frequently difficult moral decisions to take and Dr Rutovitz was describing the nature of these. None of them was easy but often pragmatism and scarce resources led to decisions to achieve the best outcome possible in the circumstances.

Dr Rutovitz is now in his 90s and is beginning to think about stepping back from the work. He lost a good friend who was killed by a sniper. He himself had a bullet to the chest and while hospitalised fortunately was protected to a degree by his flat jacket.

Throughout the talk it was clear that the commitment and creativity of volunteers helped to sustain the organisation and save so many lives.

An inspiration and adding a whole new dimension to volunteering!