For International Women’s Day (March 8), we’re bringing together a collection of stories depicting remarkable women who have made a contribution to Red Cross efforts whether through international aid, volunteering with us or putting our programs, such as bullying and violence prevention, into action.
Join us in celebrating the amazing achievements with these 10 inspiring women!
Some of the women we’d like to highlight have made a difference on a global platform. Many Canadian Red Crossers will leave their families and homes to travel around the world to help vulnerable communities.
Here, Canadian aid worker
Andrea Peters, Program Officer for Afghanistan and Pakistan, explains how solar panels are improving access to water, which means
improving the lives of women and girls in rural Pakistan.
Last December, more than 80 aid workers attended an engagement event for Red Cross international aid workers. Forty-five of the 80 participants were women with profiles ranging from operations managers, to nurses and doctors, administrators, communicators and psychosocial workers, but they have all contributed to alleviating the suffering of the most vulnerable people around the world.
Here, we take a look at four of these women:
Nicole Robicheau, Communications and Operations;
Denyse Bourgault, Psychosocial Aid Worker;
Nazira Lacyo, Coordinator, Americas;
Pamela Riley, Operations Manager in
Women aid workers talk about why they do what they do.
One of our mandates to improve global health is to focus on mother, newborn and child health
. Jennifer Vibert, Program Manager for Emergency Programming at the Canadian Red Cross, returned last summer from South Sudan, where the Red Cross, with support from the Government of Canada, is implementing a five-year (2014–2019) mother, newborn and child health project. Here, Jennifer tells us more about the work the Canadian Red Cross is doing to
improve the lives of women and children in South Sudan.
Helping in one of the biggest humanitarian crisis
The complexity and speed of the humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh and Myanmar has been overwhelming as thousands of people flee violence in the northern areas of Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh. With one of the greatest humanitarian crises unfolding in Bangladesh, we take a look at the amazing contribution of some of the women working tirelessly in some of the direst circumstances to help those seeking a safe life for their families, away from violence in Myanmar.
Dr. Ola Dunin-Bell was deployed with the Canadian Red Cross mobile field clinic in Bangladesh, thanks to support from the Government of Canada, where the need is great in the Kutapalong camp that she had been working. The crowded conditions and poor sanitation have led to high rates of infectious diseases and the lineup of patients always includes many with dehydration and malnutrition. Here, she shares her first-hand experiences in
The kites are coming out.
Jamie Tereposky is a medical laboratory technologist from Edmonton and has worked in hospitals across Canada; but, in October, she
traded her white coat for a red vest and left an air-conditioned lab for a field of rubber trees near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Making a difference at home
Inspiring change is also made at home, where women, everyday, make a difference in the lives of those around them.
High school student
Lynelle Cantwell experienced bullying and decided to take a stand. In a public act of courage through social media, she decided to take the power away from the bullies, and refocus the conversation. Her post went viral, and she received messages from people across Canada and around the world, saying that her words had helped them as well. Read about her story in
How an ugly act of bullying inspired Lynelle Cantwell to speak up.
Volunteers are the backbone of the Canadian Red Cross, supporting our programs and services across the country.
Recently, we were re-acquainted with 84-year-old
Evelyn Mitchell, a long-retired volunteer who had an
exceptional history with the Canadian Red Cross in Nova Scotia.
Decades ago, Evelyn was so appreciative of help provided to her family through our health equipment loan program, she decided to pay it forward by volunteering with another Red Cross program that provided free drives to medical appointments for those without vehicles or easy access to public transit. Over the years, she did many remarkable acts and went on to become a provincial vice-president with the Canadian Red Cross and volunteered in other programs too, notably disaster services – often responding to late-night calls assisting people displaced by fires.