Irish Red Cross Society Delegate begins Mission in Kosovo

The Irish Red Cross Society is sending an experienced delegate to help out by running soup kitchens in the Kosovan capital, Pristina in the months before Chrismas. Sheila Callan, who has only just returned from dealing with the refugee crisis in Albania, is leaving on Tuesday to begin another mission in the Balkans with the Netherlands Red Cross.

She had previously spent over a year running Red Cross soup kitchens in Belgrade covering all of Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, Montenegro, Vojvodina and Serbia. Prior to this she worked in the Vojvodinian capital, Novi Sad as a Logistics Delegate.

Sheila, who is married and lives in Clontarf, Co. Dublin, has been involved in the Irish Red Cross Society for the past 35 years. In the past Sheila has worked in the financial dept of a major chainstore and she has also managed Dublin Red Cross on a voluntary basis and taught First Aid.

Looking forward to her new position which ends shortly before Christmas, Sheila said: "Freezing and below freezing weather conditions will inflict terrible hardship on people trying to pull their lives back together and the very weak such as the elderly and bereaved women and children are always particularly vulnerable at times like this. I really hope that by running kitchens throughout Pristina we can deliver some practical help to these people."

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