A Sarnia nurse with decades of experience volunteering for the Canadian Red Cross says being impartial and neutral are key principles to follow when entering a conflict zone.
Bonnie Kearns shared stories about being in crisis situations with Kiwanis Club of Sarnia-Lambton Golden K members Tuesday morning.
"You don't take sides. You look after the people that some might consider the bad guys, you look after people who some might consider the good guys, and you try to stay neutral," Kearns said.
"When people start saying what's going on, my response would be, 'I'm sorry you are having to go through these difficult times.' I don't get into the politics in other countries and what's going on."
Kearns talked about being deployed to Ukraine for three weeks at the end of June.
"You can't fly into Ukraine, so I had to fly into Warsaw [Poland], and then took a nine hour car ride to the border of Lviv," she told the group. "In Lviv, before the war, 800,000 people lived there. Now there's over three million, mostly living in refugee camps."
Kearns said on her third night sirens sounded at 3 a.m. warning them about an air raid.
"I jumped out of bed and for a minute I couldn't even remember what I was supposed to do," Kearns said. "Then I grabbed my bag and I went down into the shelter. At 5 a.m., a critical infrastructure was hit. We didn't know what it was, but they had no casualties."
Kearns also shared her experience volunteering with the Red Cross after the September 11 attacks in New York, and about being deployed to Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and a variety of earthquakes.
In 2011, Kearns received the highest Red Cross honour: The Order of the Red Cross. The award recognizes outstanding humanitarian service, dedication and achievement.
