Borja González Escalada
Borja has been working for the Foundation Social field, for the last 16 years. He had the opportunity to participate in various duties related with a social medical projects; from brain damage to taking care of migrants in different countries. He also commanded many missions in developing countries (Calais2013,Philipines 2014, Nepal 2016, amongst others). In early 2022 when war stroke in the heart of Europe, our devoted board member jumped at the opportunity to lead the mission.
"The whole Europe were concern and so did we at Samu. The response from our side was immediate, and we had the privilege to send teams to the affected population who were crossing the borders into safe land".
On the ground, institutions were of a big help especially Project Hope and the WHO, who coordinates the efforts together with the local and national authorities.
"It is a real honor to be able to help people in dear need when things gets derailed".
Andres Rodrigues Holst
Andres has participated in deployments engaging disasters, conflicts, refugee crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic as a nurse, team leader and head of mission. Specialized in Critical Care and awarded a Master’s Degree in Emergencies, Catastrophes and Humanitarian Aid (ECHA) by the University of Sevilla and SAMU, is currently the Humanitarian Aid Project Manager for SAMU and coordinator at the ECHA master’s.
“The mobilization of resources at such an early stage of the conflict, allow the emergency teams to quickly aid displaced victims since the beginning and settle in different areas that required critical attention. This led to stablish a solid relation amongst NGOs, which was key for the incoming months of hard work and swift coordination between all levels of support for the Ukranians.”
Dedicated full-time to humanitarian relief with SAMU Foundation and SAMU First Response, Andrés was involved with the Ukraine and neighboring countries support deployment the whole length of its duration.
“Like every deployment, it has brought new capabilities. The inclement cold weather, to coordinate teams along three countries, manage patients across borders with up to five different other NGOs and receiving incessant donations and support from the local Goverments ment a precise attention to detail and staff management, which turned out to be a great learning experience.”
Erika Williams Carricaburu
Erica worked both in France and Spain as an emergency care nurse as well as in the prehospital healthcare system in South Africa. After studying the Emergency, Catastrophes and Humanitarian Aid (ECHA) Master´s Degree at SAMU, she has taken part in deployments in Central America and Europe. This deployment was particularly exciting for her because she had the opportunity to be the coordinator of SAMU EMT working at MoldExpo, Chisinau, from beginning to end.
“Good leadership within the team and fluid coordination with other teams were key in delivering quality care and making the deployment a great experience. The uncertainty of events and the security management of the situations allowed us to keep the hard work for the Ukrainian people during our whole stay.”
She is passionate about humanitarian aid and the connections it creates between people from different backgrounds.
“During the three months of deployment, we had the opportunity to work with and attend remarkable people, former SAMU students and new staff that surpassed expectations.”
