Few people deserve this little Canadian luxury more than Hamilton paramedic Darren Sousa, who is currently volunteering in Gaza, Palestine, with Global Medic’s Mines Advisory Group.

Along with kisses and cuddles from his wife and kids, Mr. Sousa cites the coffee as one of the things he most looks forward to when he arrives back in Canada.

Mr. Sousa travelled to Israel March 22 and was taken through the border into Gaza, Palestine, on the morning of the 23rd.

He said the level of destruction was shocking.

“I had never been witness to such massive buildings that were collapsed from military action,” said Mr. Sousa via e-mail.

But as he neared the area where he is based, Mr. Sousa said he was offered a peek at the remarkable resiliency of people simply trying to get on with their lives.

“The most amazing thing was the local people. There were hundreds of children in UNICEF backpacks on their way to school,” he said. “Local merchants were going about their daily business, and there were workers cleaning up the rubble and debris that littered the streets. These people were not letting what happened stop them from their daily routines.”

As a volunteer with the Mine’s Advisory Group, Mr. Sousa’s job in Gaza is to provide training and technical expertise on dealing with the remnants of war. Because of the high risk associated with working around unexploded munitions, a paramedic is on staff for medical support.

Mr. Sousa learned about Global Medic and the Mine’s Advisory Group through a colleague at Hamilton Emergency Medical Services. He quickly signed on.

Having served as an army paramedic more than four years, Mr. Sousa said he has always wanted to help the global community in a non-military role, either in the form of disaster relief or post-war reconstruction.

GlobalMedic is a registered Canadian charity that runs “capacity building” programs in post-conflict nations and provides disaster relief services to large-scale catastrophes around the world. Teams are staffed by professional rescuers like paramedics, police officers and firefighters. GlobalMedic has deployed over 40 times in the past five years after tsunamis in Sri Lanka and the Solomon Islands, earthquakes in Indonesia, Peru, China and Pakistan and hurricanes in Guatemala and Grenada, to name just a few. The Mines Advisory Group has worked in 35 countries since 1989.

Mr. Sousa said a typical day in Gaza starts with a morning briefing on his daily duties. This could include unexploded bomb safety briefings for local residents, risk assessments of collapsed buildings or the actual removal of unexploded bombs.

As often as time permits, Mr. Sousa then heads over to the ministry of health to provide training for paramedics — anything from CPR refresher courses or training scenarios.

He has also been “tasked out” on several occasions to follow up with people who have been injured by unexploded munitions.

“I pretty much am just trying to help out where it is needed, as well as perform my role here with MAG,” said Mr. Sousa. “It gives me a lot of opportunity to get out into the community and help out.”

When the working day is done, Mr. Sousa heads up the street to a nearby restaurant or relies on the culinary skills of his roommates.

Through the Internet, he communicates almost daily with his wife and children back home in Dundas, although the seven-hour time difference sometimes makes this much-loved ritual difficult.

In the evenings, Mr. Sousa sometimes attends Arabic language lessons or visits a makeshift gym. While missing his family leaves a constant ache, Mr. Sousa said it is extremely gratifying to know he has changes the lives of other people.

“...Leaving all the comforts of home and going to a place in the world that has been shattered either by war, or natural disaster is humbling,” he said. “I could not think of anything more rewarding than helping the world out in any way possible.”

For more information, see www.globalmedic.ca .