"In the end it simply is about doing good for humanity"
With 32 years of experience in Disaster Management, Education and Social work, Samantha Dickson joined the public service of Grenada in 1988 and started as a volunteer of the Grenada Red Cross Society in 1989. Today she may call herself the President of the National Movement.
“I never intended to become part of the Red Cross family. In 1988 I worked as a teacher at a school and one day the principle called me in and told me I had to go to a training to become young leaders of the Red Cross. I was mad that I had to go, it would take up two days. But I had no choice, so I went. At the end day one I liked what I heard. I started to draft a plan of action for my school. By the next year I received a National award for voluntary service to the Red Cross from the Government of Grenada. The rest is history. I went from volunteer to Board member to President, that is my Red Cross story in short.”
“I cherish so many good memories from my time with the Red Cross. I had the honor to meet Queen Sofia from Spain in 2005, walked the Fiaccolata in Castiglione, serves on the 2010 guideline changes for First aid and CPR and now I am part of GLOW Red. But the most valuable memory are all the times that people stop to say ‘Thank you’. You don’t know exactly what they thank you for, but you know you have touched their lives in one way or another. That is what keeps my going.
Today I am part of the working group for GLOW Red. Statistics show that it will take around 118 years to close the gap between men and women. I will be long gone by then, but today I am doing my part in making that change. We are a humanitarian organisation, we say we are the best and the largest, yet the disparity remains. The Movement needs to be leading the change in this field. I wish that we will grow towards an organisation that applies a 50/50 gender rule to encourage equality between men and women up to a point where we can treat a breach of gender parity as an integrity issue if we do not commit to maintaining it. In the end it simply is about doing good for humanity.”
“The philosophy I live by is ‘You work hard to play harder’. I give a lot to the Movement and I will always continue to do so. But self-care is just as important. Despite the challenges and the hard work, I always find time to balance. Only work and no play is not good for anyone. So always find time to play.”
Samantha Dickson
Grenada Red Cross