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CMAT Team departing Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport for Haiti
When: Wednesday November 2, 07:00
Where: Air Transat check-in counter

dave-and-nomad

CMAT Director Dave Johnson sending off the high-capacity water purification unit to Haiti.

MONTREAL Nov 1, 2016 – Members of Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) will be departing early Wednesday (November 2) for Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, accompanied by a large-capacity water purification unit, and other relief supplies.

On October 4th, Hurricane Matthew violently struck Haiti and resulted in the country’s largest humanitarian emergency since the 2010 earthquake. While the immediate health impact of the disaster was managed locally, CMAT has since been collaborating with local and international agencies, helping to coordinate a response to relieve the suffering of those affected by the Hurricane, and support the population through the anticipated longer-term health consequences of the storm.

CMAT’s Response Team consists of 3 members from across Canada:

  • Martin Metz, Vancouver, BC
  • Kate Auger, Collingwood, ON
  • Marc Dupuis, Val Des Monts, QC

With more than a decade of international humanitarian deployment experience among them, the team will be bringing valuable expertise to the region, along with critical water purification equipment to help rebuild the country’s capacity, and address the worsening situation of water-borne illness. To date, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have already reported over 3,000 cases of suspected cholera.

CMAT would like to thank the the following partners who have generously assisted CMAT with this deployment:

 

Donations gratefully accepted via Canada Helps!  Click below to donate.

Donate-Now

hurricane-matthew-lead

October 3 2016:  CMAT is monitoring the progress of Hurricane Matthew and standing by for further instructions for deployment.  An expected destructive encounter is anticipated in the next 24-36 hours with Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba. As of the 8 pm EDT Sunday the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Matthew’s top sustained winds were 145 mph, a slight increase from Sunday morning but still down from Matthew’s peak of 160 mph on Friday night. Please stay tuned for updates as this event progresses.

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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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 Jeewan Chanicka is an elementary principal in the York Region District School Board, in Ontario. He has helped coordinate the Helping Hands Fundraising Project within the  YRDSB on behalf of CMAT!

CMAT Volunteer Jeewan Chanicka is an elementary principal in the York Region District School Board, in Ontario. He has helped coordinate the Helping Hands Fundraising Project within the YRDSB on behalf of CMAT!

April 10, 2014 – Jeewan Chanicka – Fundraising

As an educator, Jeewan Chanicka wanted to extend the work he was doing with CMAT into the students’  learning which was happening in his classroom. The Helping Hands project was born early on in CMAT’s existence and through this, students from across the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) engaged in learning which resulted in them assisting children and families around the world.  “With the growing partnership between CMAT and our schools, and through the support of our Inclusive Schools and Community Services, Helping Hands has been made a system-wide initiative across the YRDSB,” states Jeewan.  

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