When molecular biologist Barnabé Assogba stepped into a Canadian department store one day, he didn't realize that he would be leaving with a new calling in life instead of an armful of shopping bags.
Over the rows of merchandise, he spotted a group of Red Cross volunteers from the Gatineau, Quebec Emergency Response team buying new clothes for people who had been displaced by a fire earlier in the day. Barnabé immediately introduced himself and began asking the volunteers about their experience with the Canadian Red Cross and what he could do to help. It wasn't long before Barnabé had decided to begin training with the Gatineau team.
Joining the Canadian Red Cross
By the time Barnabé had landed in Canada in February 2011, he had already volunteered a great deal with the Red Cross around the world. After growing up in Benin, a country in West Africa, Barnabé traveled to study at Seoul National University in South Korea, where he initially became involved with the Movement. He also volunteered with the American Red Cross while teaching biological sciences at the Ohio State University in the United States.
These experiences and Barnabé's natural inclination to helping others fueled his desire to train with the Canadian Red Cross, one of the country's leading charity organizations.
It should come as little surprise that Barnabé was bound for a life of public service and humanitarian work, as his own mother regularly distributes sweaters during the dry, cold and dusty winds of Harmattan in her home nation of Benin.
Responding to flooding in Montérégie
After completing his required training, Barnabé found himself responding to his first natural disaster during the Montérégie floods in May 2011. He worked with people in need arriving at the Sainte-Anne-de-Sabrevois Reception and Information Center.
Barnabé's work and that of other Red Cross volunteers depend on people who donate in order to provide relief for emergencies and disasters in Canada and around the world. Visit the Canadian Red Cross website today to learn about how you can contribute to ongoing and future humanitarian operations.