Faces Of Humanity

Canadian Red Crosser Dr. Mausam Bohara shares her experience working on the ground in Bangladesh, providing care for people who are fleeing violence in Myanmar. 

​The image of a group of women heading out to the makeshift camps in Bangladesh, their Red Cross t-shirts visible beneath their lightweight headscarves, remains in the mind of Denyse Bourgault. Bourgault was on the ground in the Cox’s Bazar district as a psychosocial support (PSS) delegate from the Canadian Red Cross to help those who crossed the border fleeing violence in Myanmar.

On a stifling and humid afternoon in November, Julekha ‘Juli’ Akter sat on the floor of a small tent for families in the transit camp for vulnerable people arriving in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar. The 18-year-old Bangladesh Red Crescent Society volunteer held the hand of an elderly woman, never breaking eye contact as the newcomer tearfully explained her journey.

A tiny baby, wrapped tightly in blankets, his face just peeking out, sleeps tucked up against his resting mother, under the watchful eye of his grandmother. It’s a scene that plays out all over the world, but in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh on Nov. 25 this story nearly had a different ending.

The giggles of excited children could be heard over everything else. A couple of the observant kids outside one of the Canadian Red Cross mobile clinics in Kutupalong camp, spotted team leader Patrice Gordon sorting through a bag with toys. It didn’t take long after she stepped out into the bright sun, for a small swarm of these little, dusty bodies to flock around her.

​Haibur Rahman sits on a chair in front of hundreds of people in Burma Para camp in Bangladesh. He pauses for a moment. Someone hands him a megaphone. He takes a deep and begins to sing. He doesn’t have formal training, but the audience is moved. Some hold their heads in their hands, others wipe away tears. Haibur is singing a song of his people and their experiences leaving their home while fleeing violence in Myanmar.

“The stress and anguish (people) go through, especially right after a disaster, and the emotional toll it takes to recover or deal with the situation – it affects everyone,” says Angelo Leo.  The Canadian Red Cross humanitarian from Vancouver has helped people impacted by disasters and emergencies as far away as Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. But this summer, he volunteered to help much closer to home. Leo is part of the Red Cross Safety and Well-being team and he went to Williams Lake to help people work through the trauma left behind by the massive wildfires that swept across much of British Columbia.

Guest post by Youth Advisory Comittee member Sara Elkadri. 
I had the pleasure of speaking with Tanya Grygaski, an environmental engineer from Ontario, and minutes into the conversation I could feel Tanya’s passion through the tone of her voice as she shared her stories and experiences from over the years.