Guest entry by Nicole Robicheau, a Red Cross delegate currently deployed in the Philippines
Marcel McIntyre is often the first to arrive at the Red Cross field hospital in the city of Ormoc, in the Philippines early in the morning and the last to leave at night. The field hospital was set up in in front of the local district hospital, which was damaged by the typhoon.
As one of the technicians on the team, he can be doing anything from fixing electrical issues to putting up or taking down tents. Although the doctors and nurses on the team often get all the glory, the
Canadian Red Cross Emergency Response Unit couldn’t run without people like Marcel.
Marcel McIntyre with a thank you note given to him by a patient at the Red Cross field hospital in Ormoc, Philippines. Photo: Eirik Lundblad Næsheim, Norwegian Red Cross
Before beginning to do humanitarian work, Marcel worked in a rock salt mine in Goderich, Ontario, which he describes as a deep, dirty, dark hole. Every year since 2006, he took his vacation to go on humanitarian missions with various organizations overseas. He finally left his full-time job at the mine to pursue his real passion to help people in need. He has since been sent on two overseas missions with the Canadian Red Cross.
“I see the Red Cross as being professional and in line with my vision of humanitarian aid,” says Marcel.
Not only does Marcel help out those in need overseas, but also as a Red Cross volunteer in Canada. In June 2013, he was sent to Calgary, Alberta, as the bulk distribution manager during the Alberta floods.