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Current world crisis news from CMAT

CMAT 2014 Annual General Meeting – Board Reports and Onling Voting

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Unfortunately we hit some technical glitches with Sunday’s online AGM, so the board has come together to deliver our reports in writing.  Please find the individual directors’ report to the AGM, as well as the 2013 financial statements.  Please don’t hesitate to email [email protected] should you have any questions.

Acting Chair Report – Kathy Harms

Executive Director Report – Valerie Rzepka

Secretary/ Treasurer Report and 2013 Financial Statements– Deb Exelby

Director of Communications Report – Kate Auger

Director of Response Coordination – Rashad Chin

 

MEMBERSHIP VOTING

A crucial discussion piece is around the changes to the Not-For-Profit organizational structure, as mandated by the Canadian Government.  These changes need to be reviewed and voted upon by registered CMAT members.  These proposed changed can be reviewed by clicking the following links:

CMAT Bylaws

Form 4031-e

Only registered members of CMAT would have received a seperate email with a time-sensitive link in order to place their votes online.  Voting will remain open until 23:59 on Friday September 12,2014. Please don’t hesitate to email [email protected] should you have any questions.

Save the Date! CMAT Annual General Meeting on Sept 7, 2014!

Please Save the Date on your calendar to join us for the AGM on 7 Sept, 2014 in the evening:

16:00 hrs PST,  17:00 hrs MT and  19:00 hrs EST.

The AGM will be hosted online.

CMAT AGM viewing instructions

After testing a variety of online conferencing tools, the CMAT Board has chosen to broadcast the September 7, 2014 AGM on Youtube via Google Hangout on Air. Our test run with the tool went very well, and we think it will be the best FREE conferencing solution for this event.  Here’s how it will work:

  • The Board will initiate the video conference in Google Hangout on Air, which we will link to Youtube.
  • A unique URL is generated, that we will post on our webpage, at 3:45pm PST on September 7, 2015.
  • Click on the link to view the Youtube broadcast
  • Enter your questions for the Board into the comments area below the video, a Board member will be picking up the questions for the panel to answer as we go.

It’s that easy. One detail to note is that there is approximately a 2 minute delay between what is being recorded in Google, and what is being broadcast on Youtube. With this in mind, we are structuring the agenda to include a report or presentation, followed by a question and answer period, before moving on to the next report.  Answering questions in the middle of reports or presentations may be a bit choppy and out of sequence with the delay. Feel free to ask questions as soon as you think of them, just be aware we will wait to the end of a report to respond to them.

Our goal is to be as inclusive and interactive as we can. The Google/Youtube platform is the most effective we have found, that doesn’t require each participant to sign up for anything, or download any add-ons or other software. If, for the future, you have suggestions for other FREE video conferencing solutions for this sort of online event, please share them with us!

Meet CMAT Volunteers Chris and Kelly Kaley

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our mission both at home, and in communities around the world!

CMAT Volunteer Kelly Kaley, with a young patient in Haiti.

CMAT Volunteer Kelly Kaley, with a young patient in Haiti.

CMAT Volunteer and Charter Member Chris Kaley in Bangladesh

CMAT Volunteer and Charter Member Chris Kaley in Bangladesh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Between skiing, canoeing, hiking and camping, there wasn’t much that Chris and Kelly Kaley didn’t do together.  So when they decided to move west from Ontario for the slopes and snow of the Rockies, they knew their adventures together were only beginning.  They both worked as paramedics for the British Columbia Ambulance Service for a number of years, and after several colleagues of theirs had discussed deployments they had participated in, Chris and Kelly were intrigued.  In 2007, Chris deployed to Bangladesh after record flooding affected the impoverished nation, and in 2008, he was part of the assessment team which travelled to the earthquake stricken region of Sichuan, China. Soon after his return, Chris became a charter member of CMAT, and sat on its first Board of Directors.  Kelly’s involvement in the organization soon followed.

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Meet CMAT Volunteer Webmaster Mikael Kjellström!

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!

CMAT Volunteer Webmaster Mikael Kjellström with children in Afghanistan.

CMAT Volunteer Webmaster Mikael Kjellström with children in Afghanistan.

Over the past number of years, CMAT has undergone some significant changes, many of which remain out of the public spotlight.  When it came time to reconstruct the CMAT website, the Board of Directors took to Social Media to help find a web designer willing to volunteer his or her time on such a huge challenge.  The search led to Mikael Kjellström, a semi-retired photographer and Emergency Medical Responder with BC Ambulance.   Mikael recalls, “I stumbled across CMAT’s old website a few years ago after a photography colleague of mine mentioned the organization. We discussed the power of images and what organizations lack in images.  After reviewing CMAT’s old website, I knew I could help by designing a new website which would be more user-friendly.”

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Meet CMAT Volunteer Ruby Dyall, RN!

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!

ruby dyall

CMAT Volunteer RN Ruby Dyall discusses treatment options for an infant with its mother in Haiti, April 2010.

April 10, 2014:  Ruby Dyall, RN

CMAT Volunteer RN Ruby Dyall was working as a nurse on a cruise ship when the earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010.  “After seeing several of the Haitian crew members I was working with trying frantically for hours on end, night after night, to reach their loved ones in Haiti, I decided right then that I would volunteer my services as a nurse as soon as I finished my contract on the ship,” she states.

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