Many of us living in the region have received e-mails from the Canadian Red Cross recently appealing for donations to aid emergency field operations in Mozambique where communities have been devastated by tropical cyclone Idai.
The situation has been declared a Level 3 Emergency by the Inter-agency Standing Committee, co-ordinators of international humanitarian assistance.
Patrice Gordon, a family nurse practitioner stationed in the Chilcotin, goes regularly with Canadian Red Cross to work during disasters.
Read more: Chilcotin nurse practitioner heading to Africa’s Ebola crisis
Gordon said Wednesday she is preparing to go to Mozambique sometime within the next month.
She described the situation as being on the level of the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal.
The initial damage affected literally millions of people — over a million children, wiping out vital infrastructure.
There are confirmed cases of cholera and Gordon said it is devastating because the situation is the perfect storm for a severe cholera outbreak.
As the secretary-general of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said, it is a “water sanitation and hygiene ticking bomb.”
Time is of the essence to get safe drinking water and adequate hygiene facilities underway as well as create cholera treatment centres to try and curb the spread, Gordon insisted.
Our first glimpse of the news pouring out of the area last week was, once again, a stark reminder that we live in such a privileged part of the world.
Over coffee, someone commented that in Canada people complain if an ambulance does not arrive within 10 minutes, yet the majority of the world’s people have no access to regular emergency services.
In the summer of 2017, we in the Cariboo Chilcotin received Canadian Red Cross funds to evacuate when the wildfires threatened our communities and more money to return home once the evacuation order was lifted. People from all over donated to help us.
Perhaps it is our turn to dip into our savings, forego a few purchases from a coffee shop, even fundraise to pay it forward.
Canadians can support the Red Cross’ response to the cyclone by making a donation to the Canadian Red Cross Cyclone Idai Appeal, by calling 1-800-418-1111, or by contacting their local Canadian Red Cross office.
news@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter