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It’s the most wonderful time of the year (cue the iconic back to school shopping commercial). This catchy jingle is not the best reflection of the majority of children and teens who are returning to class. For some, it’s the end of summer vacation that stings the most, but for others it is the fear of returning to a place where they are bullied.

In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Red Cross is not only helping to improve the healthcare infrastructure, such as adding gravity-fed water supply systems for hospitals, but also helping to build greenhouses on the outskirts of cities to supplement vegetable production.

Today, August 19, marks World Humanitarian Day and to honour aid workers and volunteers around the world, we’ve compiled a few stories of people who dedicate their time to humanitarian efforts.

In 2011, the Canadian Red Cross, with support from the Government of Canada, began the Building Community Resilience Project in South Sudan, supporting the South Sudan Red Cross. Over the course of four years, the project aimed to reach some 25,000 beneficiaries, increasing their capacity to address their food security need.

According to Kassahun Shambo, an emigrant from Ethiopia, being a newcomer to Manitoba can be a frustrating experience. Shambo remembers walking with a friend, another newcomer to Canada, who slipped and injured himself on a patch of ice. The men didn’t know what to do, so they went to a local shopping mall and asked people where they could get medical help.

Medical help can sometimes be far away if you’re living in rural and remote First Nations communities in British Columbia. In the past, getting on-call emergency assistance to people in need could be a major challenge. The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is working with the Canadian Red Cross to change that.

Two years after severe flooding damaged thousands of properties across southern Alberta, the repairs on Chuck Shifflett’s historic High River home are nearly complete. But, like many in the hardest hit regions, Shifflett and his neighbours are still recovering from the disaster. Down his street, four homes were eventually torn down, and just two were rebuilt so far.

The Canadian Red Cross continues to offer a range of programs and services to people affected by the floods in 2013. This includes Red Cross funding for Samaritan’s Purse, Habitat for Humanity, Mennonite Disaster Services and World Renew to help dozens of families in High River and the Calgary area as they rebuild or repair their homes.

Losing contact with family members can cause enormous anxiety, especially in the midst of disaster or conflict. Sometimes separation will last for days or months and sometimes it will last for years, as it did for Sadia and her siblings.