To celebrate World Humanitarian Day on August 19th, Red Cross Talks is featuring a few Canadian Red Cross delegates who have dedicated themselves to helping others in humanitarian relief efforts around the world and here at home.
For Chiran Livera, Manager of Emergency Operations in Africa, working with the Red Cross intrigued him from a young age. After having the opportunity to learn about the Red Cross and humanitarian law when when completing high school, Chiran decided to join the Red Cross as a youth volunteer with his local branch office in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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“Becoming a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross gave me the opportunity to learn about all the other work that the Red Cross does in Canada and internationally,” said Chiran. After learning about the many emergencies that the Red Cross responds to globally, Chiran decided to pursue International Political Science as his studies to learn more about the contexts.
“I knew that I wanted to provide assistance to people affected by disaster,” he said. Chiran then joined the Disaster Management program, volunteering to help families and vulnerable communities in Canada affected by emergencies.
After volunteering with the Red Cross in Canada, he went on to continue the disaster management work worldwide. From conflict zones to communities affected by devastating disasters or health emergencies, Chiran now works with the Canadian Red Cross to respond to the needs of vulnerable communities around the world.
Most of his experience as an aid worker has been in Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa, where he has responded to complex emergencies such as the Haiti earthquake, health emergencies such as cholera outbreaks, and the conflict in Mali.
“Responding to the earthquake in Haiti was certainly one of my most memorable moments providing humanitarian relief to others,” he recalled. “All components of the Red Cross worked together in a very harmonious way. People came together from countries all over the world to support one goal and that was very inspirational for me.”
Chiran also noted that his experience working in Mali is something he won’t forget. “Working in a context of armed conflict is very different than working in a natural disaster. The dynamics of the environment is challenging and this makes it intriguing,” he said.
Chiran is currently based in Kenya where he oversees the humanitarian operations for the International Red Cross throughout the continent. His latest field assignment was managing the cholera outbreak in South Sudan.
For those who are wondering how they can contribute to humanitarian relief worldwide, he has some advice: “Follow the news and what others are doing. Know what’s happening. Engage in discussion,” he says. “The more you engage, the more you see an impact and how your help is working.”
Chiran has been providing humanitarian assistance with the Canadian Red Cross for 10 years now and he claims it’s an honourable profession to have.
“It’s a very humbling experience coming into a community to provide assistance and work with the Red Cross,” he says.
World Humanitarian Day is an opportunity to highlight the selfless support that individuals contribute to the lives of those in need. The world needs more humanitarian heroes like Chiran.