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Adeola Adebayo, a nurse in Halifax, recently returned from Germany where he assisted in the refugee response efforts. For a month, he worked in Feldkirchen and Erding refugee camps run by the German Red Cross.

Two weeks ago, our world looked a bit different. We were providing psycho-social support at a transit camp for refugees near Munich in Germany as part of a Canadian Red Cross team assisting the German Red Cross. There we witnessed the best of humanity, the resilience and the courage of refugees, as well as the devastating effects of conflict in home countries, and the consequences of trauma during migration.

Picture this: You’re at home, and suddenly someone you love collapses from a heart attack. It can be a scary and overwhelming experience, but being prepared to respond with CPR can make a huge difference. Most heart attacks happen at home, so knowing what to do can truly be a life-saving skill.

While Germany continues to take in thousands of refugees fleeing violence in their countries, the German Red Cross welcomes them into reception centres and camps. Canadian Red Cross staff member Esther Laforte, Deputy Director, Disaster Management in Quebec, was deployed to a camp in Erding, Germany, to support the German Red Cross' refugee response efforts.

As I was driving I noticed a young lady running down her front driveway shouting for help at a white SUV in front of me. The SUV didn’t stop. The young lady then shouted to me for help, so I pulled over right away. I got out of my truck and ran across the road to find another young lady at the side of the house with a small baby on her knees. She was crying, saying that her baby had choked on her lunch and wasn’t breathing. 

Calling all youth to snap selfies and share on social media for a chance to win an iTunes gift card!
Post a photo of what a healthy relationship means to you to participate in the #RedCrossRespect challenge.

Catherine Mitchell calls herself the bionic woman. She jokes, but it’s partly true...she does have a bionic leg at least. A bad fall left Catherine with a shattered femur that required two months in hospital and three months at a nursing home before being able to return home. Once she did, she realized she needed additional support in place to live independently.

The sun is rising over the camp in Idomeni, Greece, on the border with Macedonia. It’s nearly impossible to keep count of the buses that have been arriving one after another over the last few hours. Each bus has around 50 passengers — refugees and migrants — who undertook a perilous journey in the hope of a better life. Among them are women, men, newborns, elderly people, sick children, pregnant women, people with disabilities…