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Getting a field hospital from Canada to Nhamatanda in Mozambique on the east coast of Africa is no simple task. Few people understand this challenge better than Garth Tohms, a Canadian Red Cross logistics aid worker. 

Yasmine Farret is a Risk Management and Security Advisor at the Canadian Red Cross. Through her young career, Yasmine has demonstrated her passion for humanitarian work through her dedication and work ethic. Yasmine kindly agreed to tell us more about her journey and her career.

Elizabeth (Liz) McMahon has a big job at the Red Cross field hospital in Mozambique – she makes sure the doctors and nurses have all the medicines and medical equipment they need. It’s busy​ from the moment she, and the 3,000 various medical items associated with the field hospital, arrive in country.

An obvious sense of pride washes over Abebe Dotamo when he talks about his homeland. He describes Ethiopia as a country with a long history of people from different ethnicities, religions and cultures living and working together in harmony. That pride and passion is something that Abebe brings to his work as the local branch manager of the Kembata Zone for the Ethiopian Red Cross.

When the Canadian Red Cross field hospital cholera treatment centre opened in Nhamatanda, Mozambique on Thursday, Elisa Armando was one of the first into the tent. Elisa, 19, brought her three-year-old son Joaquim who had diarrhea and was throwing up.
The international team of doctors and nurses from Finland, Mozambique, Canada and Israel, worked to get fluids into Joaquim.

Thanks to the generosity of the government of Canada and Canadians donating to the Cyclone Idai appeal, Canadian Red Cross has sent its emergency field hospital to Mozambique. The hospital will be staffed by 25 Canadian aid workers, including doctors, nurses and technicians. They will help alleviate the tremendous strain that has been placed on local services and health professionals who have been working non-stop to provide urgent care.

Despite tremendous efforts from healthcare providers, death is a natural and expected part of epidemics. But because of the infectious nature of Ebola, this does leave a logistical issue – how do we bury the dead, someone’s loved one - in a way that is respectful but also protects against more people becoming ill?
 

Last week, a devestating cyclone made landfall in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. The powerful Cyclone Idai has caused flooding, damaged infrastructure, crops, and homes. The Red Cross is responding, ready to provide aid to those who need it.