This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Solferino which led to the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross . The ICRC is using the date to launch an awareness campaign of its work in conflict-affected countries , featuring photos taken by five award-winning photojournalists . This week we 're bringing you stories from some of the world 's most troubled countries , as told by the ICRC . CITÉ SOLEIL , Haiti ( ICRC ) -- Roudeline Lamy was 23 when she was shot in the stomach . The impact of the bullet sent the small baby she was holding tumbling to the ground . Roudeline Lamy shows the scar from her bullet wound . At 26 , she 's a widow after losing her husband to gangland violence . Roudeline still suffers from stomach pains and her daughter , now three years old , is paralyzed from the waist down . The mother and child sleep on the concrete floor of a shack that floods every time it rains . Since Roudeline 's husband was killed by the gangs , she has had to rely on the charity of friends and her faith that God will not abandon her . With very few State services , God is all the poor in Haiti 's sprawling seaside slum of Cité Soleil can believe in . Two schools and one state hospital serve the ever-expanding population , with aid agencies and religious groups trying to plug the gap . The International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ) has been in Haiti since 1994 and in Cité Soleil since 2003 . Rob Drouen , head of the ICRC delegation , explains , `` Haiti is a fragile state where armed gangs can be used to stir up trouble for political reasons and abject poverty fuels discontent . '' See photos taken by award-winning photojournalist Ron Haviv » . Even among the children . In Cité Soleil , a dozen street children start pummeling a young girl . It 's not known why . But within seconds word has spread that a fight is on . Hordes of children with matted hair and ragged clothes race to the scene , glad of anything to relieve the monotony of yet another day with nothing to do . Weary parents pull their children away , leaving the shaken girl to escape . This is a far cry from the days when families ran for cover from daily gun battles . A few years ago , Cité Soleil was one of the most dangerous and destitute places on earth -- a shanty town torn apart by a vicious gang war for control of the area . United Nations troops have stabilized the security situation in Haiti , the western world 's poorest country , and many gang members are either dead or behind bars . Nevertheless , violence still surrounds the 300,000 residents of Cité Soleil , fueled by hunger and the frustration of trying to survive on less than a dollar a day . I sidestep the brawling children and enter the home of a woman who has suffered more than most . A long-standing resident of Cité Soleil , 83 year old Elevanise Tidor was first caught in gangland crossfire in 1993 . In 2004 she stepped into harm 's away again when she was shot in the breast and stomach . As she undoes her faded dress to show the scars from her mastectomy , she tells me she was later hit by a car and now can hardly walk . Watch Elevanise Tidor tell her story » . Confined to a sparsely furnished corrugated iron shack , she worries about how her children and grandchildren are going to make ends meet . `` My body took the bullets , but my family has been hit the hardest , '' she says . `` I ca n't work or do anything for them . My grandchildren often go to bed crying with hunger . '' That the victims of violence can suffer for years after the event is well-known , but in Cité Soleil the suffering can last a lifetime . With the help of the ICRC , a group of victims of the violence is aiding fellow sufferers . In 2007 , Pierre Wilber founded REVICIS ( Regroupement des victimes de Cité Soleil ) after gang members beat him up for political reasons . REVICIS has already identified 300 victims and is now trying to get funds for social , psychological and legal help . `` There are so many social problems in Cité Soleil that everyone here is a victim , '' he says . `` But we give priority to people visibly scarred by violence , because they have suffered a double blow . '' Brice Osmer is one of the rare victims who can still work . In April 2005 , he was caught in a shoot-out between UN troops and gang members . He was hit three times and lost an arm . Since then he walks the streets selling mobile phone time cards and bags of water . `` On a good day I earn a dollar , but it 's thanks to my wife who sells food from dawn to dusk that my children do n't starve . '' In 2004 , at the height of the gang warfare , the Red Cross ensured that people had safe access to water . Previously , they had been risking their lives crossing frontlines to fill up their buckets . Today , the ICRC works with the water board , maintaining and running 53 communal water points across Cité Soleil , turning them on for a couple of hours 20 days a month . Prospere Borgelin works with the ICRC on its water project . He also works with other international organizations to improve living conditions in Ti-Haiti where he lives ( Ti-Haiti is Creole for Petit Haiti , or Little Haiti . ) Like other community leaders , he has seen the benefits of working closely with the humanitarian agencies and with the Brazilian troops from the U.N. stabilization mission responsible for security in Cité Soleil . `` The troops have brought security . Communities are beginning to organize themselves . We see the results in that roads are being built , rubbish collected and sewage removed , '' he says . At considerable personal risk , Borgelin has helped the U.N. and the Haitian police arrest gang members in his neighborhood and continues to be vigilant . Like many in Cité Soleil , he fears that the U.N. will pull out before the Haitian police are ready to take over and that the streets will again echo to the sound of gunfire . `` Misery , '' he says , `` breeds violence . And there 's still plenty of misery in Cité Soleil . '' For more about this topic go to the ICRC Website . Have you been affected by conflict ? Send your photos and stories to iReport .
Worst of the violence is over in Haiti , but life remains intolerably hard in slums . Comment: United Nations troops have stabilized the situation but poverty fuels unrest .