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

Thousands of people are arriving in Europe every week to escape conflict and violence in their home countries. The majority of displaced people are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom are children and women.

My first impression of Philippine Red Cross staff and volunteers when I arrived straight after Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013 was of dedicated and hardworking people who deeply believe in the mission and ideals of the Red Cross. They never shy away from harsh and difficult conditions to ensure that assistance is delivered to those who truly need it, when they need it.

In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Red Cross is not only helping to improve the healthcare infrastructure, such as adding gravity-fed water supply systems for hospitals, but also helping to build greenhouses on the outskirts of cities to supplement vegetable production.

When Heather Cousins, a community health nurse from Woodstock, N.B., was recently on assignment with the Canadian Red Cross at an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone, she and her co-workers let off steam by dancing and singing songs that pleaded for Ebola  to “go away”.  Today, their wish seems closer to being realized, as Sierra Leone has marked its first week of no new Ebola cases nationwide since the outbreak began nearly 15 months ago.

It may seem contradictory that Canadian Red Cross aid worker Nicolas Verdy first got a degree in anthropology, and then went on to study computer technology, but for this Montreal native, it is proving to be an ideal basis for his humanitarian career.

All of the entries in the Red Cross #SummerSillies photo contest made us smile - what a great way to demonstrate safe summer fun at the beach, boat or pool. Three winners were chosen by a panel of Red Cross employees, with one Grand Prize winner receiving a $50 iTunes gift card, while two secondary winners won $25 iTunes gift cards.

All is abuzz at as preparations get underway for the handover of the Canadian Red Cross field hospital (ERU) to the District Health Office in Dhunche, Nepal. Orders are being filled to replenish medicines and equipment; boxes are being counted and recounted for accuracy; and the din of ongoing training sessions for doctors and nurses continues, punctuated only by the laughter of children playing in the nearby psychosocial support tent.