Louise-Julie, a volunteer for nearly 25 years, once again stepped in to support the Red Cross during the Syrian Refugee Arrival response.
Louise-Julie spent the holidays with the big Red Cross family. She is there at the Welcome Centre nearly every day, where thousands of refugees have been arriving since mid-December.
Early one morning, when she was checking whether anything had been put in the comment box, she found a letter written in Arabic for the first time. “Since I don’t speak Arabic, I had to quickly track down an interpreter to find out what it said. I was scared it was a complaint!”
She was relieved to find that it was a letter praising the Canadian government and Red Cross volunteers for their work. “It gave me strength. After working for 12 hours, I was ready to get going again,” she said.
Excerpt from the letter:
“May peace be with you. I am deeply grateful to the Canadian government and the Red Cross. [...] Ever since we received the first call from the United Nations High Commissioner in Jordan, the men and women who have welcomed us have done incredible things and kept smiling through it all. [...] Thank you so much.”