Ian MacKay says it’s his natural calling to help people.
So when Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in November, he knew he had to help, but being a fulltime nursing student at Douglas College, he couldn’t just drop everything and catch the next flight out.
Flash forward one month and with final assignments and exams all done, MacKay is ready for his trip to the devastated country where he’ll spend his Christmas vacation working with Samaritan’s Purse.
“I knew they might be short guys over Christmas break so I decided to (go),” he told The Record. “So I got in touch and asked if they were looking for volunteers or help and then they got back to me and said they weren’t looking for volunteers but were willing to offer me a contract, … so of course I jumped at it.”
MacKay is finalizing his plans with Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that provides disaster relief overseas, and if all goes as planned he will leave for the Philippines on Dec. 17.
For three weeks MacKay will be part of Samaritan’s Purse disaster assistance response team, providing medical care, food and water, and shelter to people affected by the typhoon.
This isn’t the first time MacKay has offered his services to help those in need. After a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, he travelled with Samaritan’s Purse to provide relief for those most affected. MacKay also started his own humanitarian foundation called the Peace Life Project, which aims to “educate and empower children in the Democratic Republic of Congo who have been disadvantaged and victimized by ongoing conflict in the region.”
Despite his experience, the 23-year-old doesn’t know what to expect when he arrives in the Philippines.
“I don’t really know what to expect and that’s just the reality of working in a disaster response scenario like this one,” he said.
When asked why he continues to help in disasters overseas, MacKay said it’s hard to explain, it’s just something he feels he needs to do.
“It’s tough to say why I’m going over. I guess you could say it’s just in my blood; it’s something I feel, like I need to help them,” he said.
MacKay returns to Canada on the morning of Jan. 6 and will be back in class for his hospital rotation that evening. It’s a bit hectic, but he said he’s happy to do it.
“It’s all pretty last minute, but Christmas is a time of giving so what better way to give than to go overseas and help others,” he said.
For more information on the Peace Life Project Foundation visit www.facebook.com/PeaceLifeProjectFoundation, and for more information on Samaritan’s Purse visit http://www.samaritanspurse.ca.
