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This series tells the story of UNRRA, The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, the first and largest international aid effort in human history. It's told through the eyes and letters of one of its staff, 29 year old Australian girl, Betty Souter. Few people now living have ever heard of UNRRA or the extraordinary urgent work it performed as the tide of World War 2 turned in favour of the allied nations. Millions upon countless millions of people were displaced, starving and homeless. They had no water, no power, and no hope. Interestingly, It’s a story that’s just as relevant today as our world faces its own challenges of political divisions, inequities, hunger, pandemic, and impending displacements of whole populations due to changing climate and rising sea levels.
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
If two letters yesterday weren't enough, Bet has even more news for her mother, expanding further on local plagues, nightime rat encounters, and delightful garden parties. (Image: UNRRA garden party)
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Monday Aug 02, 2021
As Betty swelters and bemoans Shanghai office derelection, she entertains us with various tidbits. (Image: And you think you have a tough job - imagine plowing the paddy fields with no buffalo, no tractor - just family)
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
This episode begins with extracts from a formal report Bet submits to Shanghai office pushing back on misleading UNRRA media reports of conditions in Kiangsi province. Bet then regales us with her first Chinese drama experience. (Image: Bet onsite at construction of a refugee tent village)
Saturday Jul 24, 2021
Saturday Jul 24, 2021
Bet luxuriates in the simple pleasures of lots of news from home; The story af UNRRA continues and a contemporary newsreel underscores the desperate plight of China and its people. (Image: The ugly aftermath of war - The 4th Army liquidates a collaborator)
Link to newsreel: UNRRA aids Chinese famine victims (1946)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZzV8gv_4ZI&ab_channel=BritishPath%C3%A9
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Betty is sporting a bright heat rash to hide her yellow Atebrin complexion. She visits the local medical school, describes bridge works in downtown Nanchang, lines up a dance party, and laments the absence of beer supplies. (Image: A Japanese Prisoner of War sleeping on the job. Kind of underscores how recently the war ended!)
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
A quirky episode featuring more adventures, tales, and wonderment. (Image: Hank, Randy Bedford and Betty supervise UNRRA temporary bridge construction)
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Monday Jul 12, 2021
This episode breaks with tradition in that the letters are not published on the dates they were written. After 2 months in Kiangsi Bet wants to find out if her reports are meeting UNRRA China Office needs. She writes to her boss, Col. W B Rose, seeking feedback about her performance on June 20. He responds on 1 August. Today, the half-way point between, we publish her letter and the response. (Image: Bet and Marj on the job in Nanchang)
Monday Jul 05, 2021
Monday Jul 05, 2021
UNRRA Nanchang office took yesterday, 4th July off work. Bet describes a VERY big day, and a new romance. (Image: A man named Hank, pictured with his very good friend 'Jake', foreman of the Chang-Kung-tu ferry crossings. 'Neither understands a single word the other is saying'.)
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
Betty writes to her Godmother, Edith Thompson, reporting on Nanchang happenings and the romance situation. (Image: Suitors for Betty Souter? I can't imagine why.)
Sunday Jun 20, 2021
Sunday Jun 20, 2021
Betty finishes the tale of her road trip, describing how she and Claude finally make it home to Nanchang (Image: Fellow travellers hitching a ride aboard an LST Landing Ship -Tank)