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.
As Head of Emergency Operations for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Jean-Pierre Taschereau is often travelling around the world to coordinate emergency responses where aid is badly needed. Jean-Pierre, also known as JP, has most recently been working in Guinea to help humanitarian efforts in dealing with the Ebola outbreak.
“I was in Sierra Leone from mid-June to mid-July after [Ebola] first broke,” said JP, pictured left in Sierra Leone. “I went home for a month but now I’m back in Guinea to help with operations. I’m setting up the regional coordination platform to then hand it to the regional coordinators.”
On the heels of the World Health Organization declaring the Ebola epidemic an international public health emergency, JP said it means targeting resources in a concerted effort.
“This means working together on different measures such as more screening at borders and airports and more health personnel on the ground working,” he noted. “Then hopefully the situation will get better.”
JP first joined Red Cross in 1991 after his hometown flooded, and became an international delegate in 1998.
“When my hometown flooded, the Canadian Red Cross set up a shelter so I volunteered,” he recalled. “I initially worked in domestic disasters and first aid. This job meets what I wanted on so many levels: helping others, providing adventure, discovering new countries and I never stop learning. I’ve been on missions for 15 years and I’m still learning.”
His work in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010 was featured in a TVO documentary, Inside Disaster Haiti (2011).
With his current mission in Guinea, JP said he is still learning.
“This is my first outbreak so there are a couple different aspects to it,” he said. “First, with natural disasters, the worst of the crisis is at the time of impact; with an outbreak, the situation gets worse over time. Second, the level of exposure is different as you don’t see a virus coming. It’s always in the back of my mind to know I’m not immune.”
Although his job of helping others often calls him away from his home in southern Quebec, for JP, home is his respite.
“I deal with any stress by playing with my daughter who is 15 months old, she takes care of that,” said JP. And with another child on the way, JP will have lots of love to return home to and recharge before his next mission.