Good bye!

As many of you know, my last day at the Canadian Red Cross was this week. As I reflect on my journey here, I’m filled with deep gratitude and pride for the incredible experiences and opportunities we’ve shared.?As I reflect on my journey with the Canadian Red Cross, I feel incredibly fortunate to have dedicated over a third of my life to humanitarian work. Along the way, I’ve had the opportunity to lead teams in some of the world’s most challenging crises, always drawing strength from the collective efforts of my colleagues and the communities we served. The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has been at the heart of my life for the past 7 years. Mentioning each and every deployment or project would make this post unreasonably long, so I’ll try my best to share a few highlights with you.

In 2017, as Team Leader in Somaliland, I was part of the effort to establish a Cholera Treatment Center that treated more than 4,000 people. Leading a dedicated team of humanitarians, we worked tirelessly to respond to the outbreak. A year later, in Bangladesh, during the refugee crisis, I again took on the role of Team Leader for a Mobile Clinicthat provided care to 50,000 people in hard to reach part of the Cox Bazar refugee camp. These experiences showed me that effective leadership is about bringing out the best in your team, even in the toughest conditions.

In 2018, I served as Field Coordinator during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was an incredibly challenging time, as we were faced with the immense scale of the crisis and managed to reach over 1.5 million people. I was proud to participate in the planning for the whole federation response and integrate lessons learned from the outbreak of 2014 with success. In 2019, after Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique, I led a team for the deployment of the emergency hospital that became a lifeline for 12,000 people. We were able to pivot from emergency care to a cholera treatment center to acute care for patient with co-morbidity. ?Then, in 2020, as Team Leader in Honduras, responding to Hurricanes Eta and Iota, we set up a clinic that supported 13,000 people who had lost so much. These experiences taught me that in the face of disasters, it’s the resilience of the people we work with, especially the volunteers from local Red Cross and Red Crescent teams that makes all the difference.

When COVID-19 hit Quebec in 2020, I had the responsibility of leading our largest public health response as Health in Emergency Director. With a remarkable team by my side, we supported 231 hospitals and long-term care homes, trained 16,000 people across all sectors, support testing centers, provide mental health services and helped vaccinate 1.5 million people—17% of the population of Quebec. The success of this operation was truly a testament to what we can achieve when we work together with a shared purpose, creativity, and commitment.

As Director of the ERU team, I had the privilege of overseeing the deployment of our Emergency Response Units both domestically and internationally. Just this year, one of the most challenging missions was deploying a hospital to Gaza, where 12,000 consultations and 500 surgeries were carried out under some of the toughest conditions imaginable. This was made possible through close collaboration with the ICRC, showcasing the strength of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in action. Closer to home, we responded to the forest fires in Hinton and Jasper, where our team supported 2,600 households by offering them a place to breathe, assess their situation, and connect with the available local support services. At every step, I’ve been continually inspired by the resilience of the communities we serve and the unwavering dedication of the people I’ve worked alongside.

Throughout my time with the Canadian Red Cross, I’ve had the privilege of leading teams that have supported over 3.1 million people across more than 10 countries, responding to crises such as cholera and Ebola outbreaks, cyclones and hurricanes, refugee crises, forest fires, armed conflict, and the COVID-19 pandemic. From deploying emergency medical units to vaccinating millions, the impact we’ve made together speaks to the incredible strength of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and the power of collective action. I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I remain committed to continuing this vital work, always inspired by the resilience of the communities we serve.

P.S. A huge thank to all the people I’ve work with and learn from.

Donny Straub Hossam Elsharkawi Haytham Qosa Isabel Gauthier Kelsey Lemon Jean Ismert, MAP, CAPM Josiane Castonguay Marie-Andrée Roy Marius Berger Chiran Livera Ayham Alomari Alexis Kraig Rodolfo (Rudy) Magirena Stéphane Michaud, P. Eng. Pascal Mathieu Kaisa Kannuksela Lucia Lasso Jamie LeSueur Alberto Monguzzi Roger Alonso Morgui Chaka Zinyemba Nicolas Gauvin Nicolas Gauvin Shelby Bay Myra Léger patrice gordon Jaime Burgoyne Ashley Birinyi, MA(DEM), CCP Sofia Lahlou Andrea Peters Franz Meier, PMP, CPHR Meaghan Doner Charlotte McGlade Charlotte Marguerite Debunne Justine Touaux Justine Dupuis Soulière Marwa S. Antoine Mercier Christine Reid Sophie Rondeau Amy Avis William Myers Elysia Dempsey Pat Quealey Emma Genest Emma van Rij Sébastien Labranche Hilary Dawson Elaine Fong Florent Del Pinto James Sedgewick James Spooner Barry Emmerson Guy-Renaud Kirouac, M.B.A. Josée Cloutier CRHA Tanya Grygaski Vishva Ragunathan Mariane Durivage Maxime Perreault-Varin Amélie Panneton Michael Girard Ndikuyeze Clement G. Sean Freeman Rachel Meagher Aman Mangat Marie Munoz-Bertrand Luc Alary Christiane C Lawson Elaine Fisher Alison (Ali) Paul, MSW, RSW Sébastien J. Breanne Jury Alicia Benton Erwan Cheneval Abigail Afanou, CRHA Anna K. K. Nathalie Auclair Nathalie King Daniel J. Celine McGarvey Sharonya Sekhar Lise Anne Pierce Aliisa Paivalainen Matt Baden Stephanie Murphy Youri Forestal Carole Du Sault Catherine Gribbin Bettina Serventi Marie-Eve Hamel, PhD Joseph Leger Katy St-Martin Dr. Lynda Redwood-Campbell Annie Julien Pierre-Hugo Ethier Raphael Hamoir Emma Sturrock Candy Kwok, RN. MN. Bronwyn Nichol Matthew Colling Jennifer V. Sue Cornette Gwen Eamer Antoine Belair Corrie Butler Marshal Mukuvare Florian HAAS Sandra Fernandes Nawal Smail Caitlin Reiach Kandice Pardy Casey McDermott and way more!

And finally a special thanks to my wife Daniela Vergara for supporting me, trusting me I will always come back home safe, inspiring me to always give the best of me and helping me reflecting on this journey and putting into words those memories that initially were just a bunch of bullet points.

Ps: Here's some footage of those operations:https://youtu.be/D57Y-AYprew