An Alberta aid worker is calling on the federal government to grant exemptions to humanitarian workers. As Christa Dao reports, those on the front lines say the money is better spent on life-saving medicine and supplies.
An Alberta humanitarian aid worker is calling on Ottawa to grant hotel quarantine exemptions for aid workers working overseas.
Christine Fletch is an aid worker with Magna International, a non-profit organization that provides medicine and supplies to children and their families in developing countries.
Fletch spent the past month working in the village of Duk Pagaak, located in Northern South Sudan. She said their medical hospital is the only infrastructure in the area. The village is inaccessible by road, and the airstrip is only safe to use a few months of the year when there’s no rain.
“This is a region, to put in perspective, the war-torn area of South Sudan.
“There is nothing there. There are no roads, there is no electricity, there’s no running water,” she said.
Fletch said the area was devastated by floods last year.
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The hospital provides much-needed medical aid and supplies to those who live there.
In addition to COVID-19, she said countries in Africa also have to deal with much more.
“We have malaria, cholera, severe malnutrition, and HIV, gender-based violence, you name it. The work that we do, it really does save lives. I’ve seen it,” she said.
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