International 61

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

Over the last couple of months, Central African Republic civilians have been suffering due to the eruption of violence. The crisis has forced thousands to flee their homes, fearing for their families and lives. In Central African Republic, 80 per cent of health facilities are not working, many schools are closed, access to water and sanitation is more difficult and farming is in crisis.

Matt Hewett was among those who deployed to the Philippines in those early days of the emergency response after Typhoon Haiyan caused significant damage in the country. He’s an Information Services Manager with the Canadian Red Cross, which at first glance may not sound like a typical career path for a humanitarian worker. However, information management is critical when it comes to coordinating a large-scale response and ensuring the right aid is delivered to those who need it the most.

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

Five Canadian Red Cross medical personnel are being deployed to South Sudan to increase the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC) surgical capacity in communities recently affected by conflict in the region.

When disasters strike and the world rushes to help, emergency responders often feel the pressure to rebuild quickly, but building back better takes time. That’s why the Red Cross sent state-of-the-art emergency medical teams to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake four years ago, and again months later when cholera broke out across the country. These shorter-term missions allowed us to provide life-saving care to families in need, while also taking the time to properly plan longer-term recovery projects to help communities not just return to their pre-earthquake lives, but to actually improve families’ lives for many years to come.

This week, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer went to South Sudan to assess how to assist people who are affected by the latest conflict.

Since the outbreak of violence in mid December, thousands have died or have been wounded, and tens of thousands of people have fled their homes fearing for their lives.

Denyse had always wanted to do humanitarian work but the opportunity didn’t present itself until a few years ago, after she raised her two kids and the Canadian Red Cross began deploying psychosocial support delegates after the Haiti earthquake.

Haiti was Denyse’s first mission with the Red Cross. Since then she’s been back to Haiti a second time to provide psychosocial support during a cholera outbreak, and to Pakistan to provide that same support after a flood. Her latest deployment  as a member of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) has taken her to the Philippines, to help out after Typhoon Haiyan.