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Last spring the Canadian Red Cross welcomed three communications delegates from other Red Cross societies. Degsew Amanu from Ethiopia Red Cross, Marial Mayom Riak from South Sudan Red Cross, and Carlos Romero from Honduras Red Cross, joined staff and volunteers from across Canada to participate in an Emergency Response Unit (ERU) training and learn valuable skills that they could take home with them.

Okay, so I am that person. The one who really can’t handle the gross stuff, the one who covers their eyes during movies until people tell me it’s okay to look again. So naturally the world of first aid is one that gets me a little nervous because it might be icky. And then I had a moment that I realized just how important first aid is.

The Canadian Red Cross receives many calls for assistance, but this call, from one of the evacuees from the Alberta Fires in May, was a bit different.
Kim Matchem contacted the Red Cross for a teddy bear. Kim was eight months pregnant with her daughter Tenley when she was evacuated from Fort McMurray. 

​It was love at first sight for Canadian Red Cross volunteer Georges Yaacoub who met his wife at a Red Cross Valentine’s Day party in his birthplace of Zahlé, Lebanon. Born into a benevolent Lebanese family, Georges spent his childhood surrounded by humanitarians.
Immigrating to Canada in 2010, Georges settled in Nova Scotia. He sat down recently to share his incredible journey from hometown to Halifax and his love for all things Red Cross.

There’s no doubt 2016 was a challenging year for many people who experienced disasters such as the Alberta fires and Hurricane Matthew, or who fled their home as a result of armed conflict.

​We want to cap off the year by sharing some of the most inspiring and heartwarming Red Cross stories from 2016 to show humanity at its best. What inspired you this year?

Immediately after Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti on October 4, the Haiti Red Cross Society and other Red Cross partners rushed staff and volunteers to the worst affected communities to assess needs and deliver emergency assistance. Canadian Red Cross aid delegate Dr. Lynda Redwood-Campbell was part of an IFRC assessment team that was among the first to reach many storm-battered towns and villages and had a key role in supporting the health response that followed, in coordination with Haiti’s Ministry of Health, the Haiti Red Cross and other health responders. These are some of her reflections:

“Wintery mix” weather forecasts. Icy road conditions. Christmas shopping rush. Public transportation delays. Rising grocery prices... It all sounds like home to me and I’ve dearly missed it here! I’m catching up with friends and family, enjoying good company and the simple pleasures of life in Montreal – what I have missed most while on mission in South Sudan.

For the past week, more than 100 personnel from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the ICRC have been facilitating the evacuation of people from Eastern Aleppo. As of yesterday, tens of thousands of civilians had been successfully evacuated in this complex operation.