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'It’s really difficult to fathom the level of suffering and loss these people are experiencing right now.' - Mike Parker.
Edmonton (1 Oct. 2010) – Watching the suffering of millions of displaced Pakistani flood victims on television, Edmonton Metro Paramedic, Mike Parker, felt compelled to do something.
Parker and his wife Beverly, an RN, have decided to volunteer three weeks of their time to the relief efforts to assist victims of one of the world’s worst natural disasters seen in modern times.
“My wife came home from work and said ‘We have to do something,’” says Parker, a member of the Heath Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA/NUPGE). Now, the two of them will be in Pakistan from Oct. 5-23, assisting as part of an eight-member medical field unit.
“It’s really difficult to fathom the level of suffering and loss these people are experiencing right now," Parker says. “But these sorts of situations speak clearly to the fundamentals of why we became health care professionals in the first place - to help people who can’t help themselves.”
The Parkers have signed on with the Canadian Medical Assistance Team (CMAT), a national non-profit organization that seeks to improve the health and welfare of families both in Canada and developing countries around the globe.
The Parkers will be travelling to a region called Shikarpur, 600 kilometres north of Karachi in the province of Sindh. They’ll be working in primary care with some maternal newborns.
CMAT volunteers have been some of the first to arrive at the scene of recent global emergencies, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Indonesia of 2004; Hurricane Katrina on the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005; earthquakes in Sichuan, China, in 2008 and Chile in February, 2010, and flooding from a cyclone in Bangladesh in 2007.
CMAT members are familiar with Pakistan, having responded and provided medical relief in Kashmir after the devastating earthquake of October, 2005. Most recently, CMAT spent six months providing medical aid to the victims of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti.
To donate to the victims of the flood, or to help offset the costs of the Parkers' trip abroad, visit www.canadianmedicalteams.org and click on the link titled “Donate Now”, then include the Parker’s names at the bottom of the form under “Where would you like your donation to go.”
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE