Meet the Hong Kong Red Cross worker who does not let tragedy stand in her way

After seeing first-hand people lose their homes and loved ones in natural disasters, humanitarian worker Karen Poon Hiu-yee has come to realise that the world is not always fair.

But the 38 year old, who has spent a decade coordinating international relief work, is committed to improving the lives of others.

Poon, a senior programme coordinator at the Hong Kong Red Cross, said she was upset to see millions of people in Bangladesh affected by multiple natural disasters during her one-month mission there in August and September this year.

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In May, Cyclone Mora hit the country’s southeastern coast, killing at least six people. And since then the country of 163 million people, a third of whom live in poverty, has endured more cyclones and heavy rain.

“A thing I’ve learned from my field work is that hard work doesn’t always pay off,” Poon said. “Not every working family there is lucky enough to have at least three basic meals a day like us. They may be farming hard trying to provide the best for their children, but their hard work could easily be swept away by a flood.”

Poon, who has been to Bangladesh four times, said the flooding there was “worse than she had expected” when she visited the country in August.

According to the Red Cross, it was the worst it has been in the last three decades.

Poon said the most memorable moment during her mission came after she spent two hours taking a small boat from the downtown area of Kurigram, in the country’s north, to a small island. There, she came across a mother with her two daughters and son. They were running out of clean water.