Red Cross Talks (Page 114)

Like the rest of Haiti, the Jacmel community was left reeling after the January 12, 2010 earthquake devastated the country. This community of 40,000, capital of the Sud-Est department of Haiti, suffered significant damage to many buildings, including an estimated 70% of homes and the county hospital Saint Michel a Jacmel. Given that a strong and functional major health care facility is vitally important to both short-term and long-term recovery efforts, the reconstruction of Saint Michel Hospital was considered an essential task.

A former Iranian solider and long-time volunteer, Mahmood Jafari, now calls the Canadian Red Cross his family.

After leaving friends and relatives behind in 1997 to migrate to Calgary, his lonely transition was made easier after he met two former Red Cross staffers, Peter Worsley and Vince Bodnar, who encouraged him to volunteer. Although Mahmood suffered a serious injury in Iraq that left him in a wheelchair, he agreed Red Cross would be a good way to help others.

Canmore resident  Dave Bateman is a registered nurse and the Director of Clinical Care at the Prostate Cancer Centre in Calgary. He spent a month in a refugee camp in Erding, Germany, assisting the German Red Cross. 

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

In October 2015, a young woman in the municipality of Bánica shared her positive experience with me.

Juana Maria Carvajal Colon, 21, who was eight- months pregnant at the time, lives with her husband and six-year-old daughter. Juana and her sister had recently participated in a Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) training session organized by the Dominican Red Cross in her community. 
 

Earthquakes don’t come with built in warning systems. For millions of people in many of B.C.’s largest cities, Tuesday’s quake was a wake up call. What will yours be?

On December 31, 2015 the Canadian Red Cross Region of York Branch will celebrate its 115th anniversary!  In the past 115 years, this branch has actively supported the Red Cross mission in the community and around the world. Ontario Provincial Disaster Coordination Team HR volunteer Beverly Verwey took a moment to tell us a little about her Branch’s history.