Red Cross Talks (Page 70)

​While the fire was over, the stress remained in 100 Mile House, a small community in the B.C. interior that evacuated for 16 days during the 2017 wildfires.

Twenty-four years after my very first mission with the Red Cross, I am grateful to be back in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The context this time is totally different from the one that had brought me to this country for my debut in the humanitarian world. Then it was a man-made catastrophe, the genocide in Rwanda. Now, it is nature’s work. Ebola, the deadly virus that killed thousands of people in West Africa, is back for the ninth time in the DRC.

When Inga Sloan arrived at Canadian Forces Base Borden to teach a Canadian Red Cross CPR/AED first aid course, she had no idea she would be teaching the people who would save her life.
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Recently I was invited to visit James Smith Cree Nation for their Community Health Fair where an Elder approached me and said “Hello, I have a story and I want you to write it down.”

​The Packing House is a meeting place for the people of Spences Bridge, whether it’s to have a cup of coffee, catch up on the latest news and gossip, or chat with owner and local politician Steve Rice.
It’s also a stopping point for people on the road to elsewhere in B.C. Or, it was, until last summer when massive wildfires stopped the flow of tourist traffic through Spences Bridge.

With sweltering heat expected for Canada Day weekend, here are ways to beat the heat so you can enjoy the celebrations.

Since April, civil unrest has rocked Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan Red Cross is on the ground, providing assistance that is putting recent training to use. 

While Red Cross volunteers are known for their resourcefulness and dedication, there’s one team that really goes a step above and beyond: the Supporting Evacuation and Repatriation Team (SERT) team.