Katherine Mueller is a Canadian aid worker with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Africa and was deployed to Sierra Leone to support the Red Cross response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak. Katherine discusses her experiences in a place of great need and hope.
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This Giving Tuesday, support the Red Cross by participating in local events across Atlantic Canada. Or, you can text redcross to 30333 to donate $5 instantly.
The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
The Canadian Red Cross is supporting the efforts of Prevention of Violence Canada in a petition for a national strategy on violence prevention. These efforts include a charter with a goal of 1 million people signing on in support.
Many of us have heard the term Meals on Wheels and understand the gist of what it entails, but the Canadian Red Cross program offers more than you might expect.
Nawaf was three years into a challenging five-year bachelor’s degree in computer and information engineering in Damascus when the ongoing Syrian conflict forced him to put his dreams on pause. His family had already fled the country some 18 months before, but Nawaf, 24, and the oldest of seven siblings, stayed behind.
Patrice Gordon, a British Columbia nurse practitioner and Red Cross delegate, is currently working at the Red Cross Ebola treatment centre in Kenema, Sierra Leone. She writes:
"I want a magic wand to get rid of this virus. But I'm glad I'm here. We are helping to give people their greatest chance for survival. It's hard to feel fully human inside our PPE (protective gear), but people can feel our touch, hear our voices, and see our eyes caring for them. We are helping people to still hope, when they have many reasons to feel hopeless."
Looking around Azraq refugee camp, in Jordan’s north-eastern desert, life seems peaceful, if rudimentary. Children run and play in the camp’s streets, parents shop at the central supermarket, and social and religious activities are growing as refugee families re-establish connections with neighbours. Some Syrian residents can be seen with crutches or other medical equipment, recovering from lingering wounds or long-untreated chronic illnesses.