International 29

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence, and to provide them with assistance. There are over 14,500 ICRC aid workers assisting the most vulnerable in 80 countries affected by conflict. These aid workers risk their own lives operating in conflict zones such as in Somalia, Yemen and Malaysia while caring for others. So how does the international community ensure their protection?

Monday, Nov 7th marked one year since the end of Ebola in Sierra Leone. In commemoration of this milestone, and in recognition of the 3,956 people who died here, the public across the country were encouraged to wear yellow ribbons or yellow clothing and observe three minutes of silence at 11:00 in the morning. Flags flew at  half-mast.

“Every day I see children suffering from the after-effects of having lost their homes or close family members,” said Emilie Gauthier-Paré. Psychosocial delegate with the Canadian Red Cross in Haiti, Émilie is a member of the mobile health clinic team making daily visits to remote villages of Grande Anse in the southwest of the country that was devastated by Hurricane Matthew.

We met many of our American Red Cross friends this past May when they joined us to help during the Alberta wildfires in Canada, and we jumped at the opportunity to head south of the border to assist residents of North Carolina, following devastating flooding from Hurricane Matthew.

The Canadian Red Cross mobile health clinic has now been set up and operating out of Jeremie in the Grand Anse region. These photos are from when the mobile clinic was in Mouline, a remote community in the mountains which was badly affected by Hurricane Matthew. This is the first time the community is receiving health services nearly one month after the hurricane.

Susan Floyd found four small stowaways among the shivering dogs, cats, possums, pythons and other pets that she rescued recently from the floodwaters following Hurricane Matthew. The day after the hurricane hit South Carolina, Floyd was helping the Marion County Animal Shelter and others find animals in flooded homes around the towns of Mullins and Nichols. In a boat, Floyd arrived at one submerged property to find a frightened mother Chihuahua and her new puppy.

Micheline Lagrenade has been volunteering at the Haitian Red Cross branch in the town of Jeremie for the past 24 years. Micheline is a single mother of four who up until recently was living in a house in a coastal neighbourhood of Jeremie. Her home was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew, and she’s been staying with her four children at a friend’s house.

It has been one year since we began welcoming Syrian refugees to help them build new, more stable lives in Canada. With your help, the Canadian Red Cross was able to partner with organizations that support refugees across the country, such as the Immigrant Community Support Centre in Montreal, to help Syrian families settle and integrate into their new community.