Passion and prep work behind humanitarian rescue

Dr Jeyathesan Kulasingam, 46, (left) conducting first aid training among Red Crescent volunteers in Sichuan, China.

It was a day before his flight back to Syria, and International Federation Of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies health delegate Dr Jeyathesan Kulasingam, 46, was busy organising his luggage, preparing to return to his mission station in Damascus, following a two-week break.

In the kitchen, the aroma of freshly baked muffins and cookies wafted through the air, as his wife, Tham Yuh Shi, 36, packed sweet treats for her husband’s work duties in the war-torn country. Odi, the couple’s two-year-old Labrador, sat and watched obediently as Jeya – as he’s more affectionately known – loaded up his suitcase.