Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers share their first-hand experiences with human suffering, courage and resilience
Farouk, Miguel, Rebeka and Arlen are real life heroes helping people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain, Hungary and Kyrgyzstan.
Unstoppable, they serve as volunteers of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and have written poignant letters about their experiences while assisting exhausted migrants, caring for patients in a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit and supporting emergency services through a mobile team.
Farouk, helping people on the move in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Violence and poverty drive millions of people from their homes every year. Thousands end up in the Balkans after long and dangerous journeys through different borders and across the Mediterranean. Farouk Hwedy, an asylum seeker from Syria, is one of them. He left Damascus in 2013 and got to Europe five years later, after travelling to Saudi Arabia and through Turkey.
Grateful to reach a safe haven, he is now giving a hand to others as part of the Mobile Team of the Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo:
“We are helping people from Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia… For me, it is a great honour to serve them because I know what they have been through and what they are suffering from. I know what they are missing, as it happened to me as well.
“Many flee conflict ravaging their countries of origin. Some have lost a father, a mother, a brother, a sister… or even their entire family because of war. Others didn’t want to be conscripted into the military and be forced to kill other people. Or they graduated from the best universities but did not have job opportunities to secure their future or that of their children.
“Before COVID-19, I used to wake up every morning to go to reception centres, squares or bus stations with my colleagues to see migrants, listen to them and help them. With the pandemic everything has become difficult, but I love my work and I do my best to help more.
“Exhausted or disoriented, some people just want a listening ear to begin with. However, most of them are also lacking basic necessities, are injured or in need of other types of support, and it is also important to reinforce COVID-19 prevention and give them personal protective equipment.
“We make every effort to explain the epidemiological situation to migrants, the risks, how to minimise them and prevent infections. We give them hand sanitisers and anything else they may need.
“Volunteering with the Red Cross is one of the most positive things in my life, it makes me happy. I hope this tragic situation will end soon, and that people will be more understanding toward people on the move. At the end of the day, we are just looking for a decent life, a better future.”
Miguel, rescuing migrants arriving in Spain by sea
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped the arrival of migrants by sea either. On the contrary. Last year, the Canary Islands, in Spain, registered the highest number since 2006: more than 30,500.
Miguel Vela has been a Spanish Red Cross volunteer since 2009, witnessing horror and desperation on a regular basis. A nurse by training, he is currently part of the Immediate Response Team in Humanitarian Assistance to Migrants (ERIE) while working in a hospital and for the 112 local emergency service.
His daily activity is intense. He is on stand-by in case there’s a sighting of a boat. In such cases, Miguel’s team provides basic health and humanitarian aid to migrants upon disembarkation. They organise the material and human resources to care for the newly arrived, carry out a first triage, evacuate people and bring those in need of medical assistance to a nearby post. The rest of the migrants are given essential items including clothes, food and water. In his own words:
“The COVID-19 emergency added the risk of infection, the discomfort of having to use protective equipment despite extremely hot temperatures, the frequent modification of protocols and the psychological and physical exhaustion after long working hours.
“However, I’ve always had the luxury of going back home at the end of our interventions, with running water, electricity and food. In the meantime, people continue to risk their lives in the sea or have to quarantine in overcrowded settings, on top of a concrete pier and with an uncertain future. All this, not to mention the bodies that reach the coast or those who do not even manage to touch the mainland, human beings whom no one will ever be able to watch over.
“We have had some cases of babies only one day, and even hours, old, with the umbilical cord still attached to the mother’s placenta. And children who were born in the boat and who would touch the mainland for the first time in our arms. No person should go through this, least of all a child. We should be embarrassed as a society.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to give 200% of ourselves without having a physical shoulder to lean on, struggling with uncertainty in the face of the unknown and with great fear.
“We need to continue maintaining prevention measures. There have been many deaths, preventable deaths. It is up to us to reduce the numbers of infections as soon as possible. The vaccine is the vertex of the triangle that will help us fight the virus, but it must reach all corners of the world. It is our duty as a society to ensure that. And I think this crisis is also an opportunity to further value life, the closeness of our own, a hug, a kiss or a simple look.”
In Hungary, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has been assisting the Hungarian Red Cross in scaling up COVID-19 operations — from awareness raising to supporting hospitals, testing and vaccination. Thousands of volunteers are involved in these activities.
Rebeka, caring for patients in a COVID-19 ICU in Hungary
Rebeka Szilágyi, for example, had been working as a midwife in a hospital in Budapest for two years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit she decided to join the Hungarian Red Cross’ H-HERO Health Emergency Response Unit. Her testimony illustrates the struggles and rewards of frontline volunteers:
“The COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit where I volunteer is like an enclosed arena where you have to fight a new enemy day in and day out. You never know what challenges you’re facing that day, because every patient is different even if the illness is common to all of them.
“At first, it bothered me that after a few minutes I would be warm under the plastic coverall, double mask, glasses and three gloves, but later I didn’t even notice them. Now I get caught up in tasks and sometimes realise that four or five hours have passed without me taking a sip of water, eating a bite or just sitting down. It’s a job that, as we say, can’t be finished, just stopped.
“We don’t spare time or energy for our patients, and it’s difficult to accept that sometimes nothing can be done. Our hearts squeeze as sobbing relatives come in to say goodbye to a loved one.
“That was the case with a patient I had a small conversation with recently, and who was put on ventilation in my shift. I saw that COVID-19 was finally crushing his system. Smiling photos of grandchildren and relatives appeared from his belongings as I prepared the inventory of his personal items. I let out a sigh, and my own family came to mind. And the people I saw the day before in the supermarket, not keeping their distance, the mask pulled down to the chin… And the social media posts where they debated how severe the situation is, how effective vaccines are…
“Our team in the hospital is fantastic. We are like a small family. On the toughest days, we keep our spirits up together. I look up to my colleagues: from doctors, nurses and other medics to cleaning staff, each of them is a true hero! I am proud to be one of them, to work with them.”
Arlen, saving lives in Kyrgyzstan
Arlen Matkasimov is also proud of his contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a volunteer in the mobile team of the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent, and has been confronted with many life and death situations in the last months:
“Once, following an emergency call, I saw a patient with oxygen saturation 43, when it should normally be above 95. We did everything to save her life. She fought very hard, and in the end she survived. At moments like these, you realise how extreme reality can be.
“We have been doing everything in our power to get out of this pandemic horror together. To be honest, it has been difficult. I would not want this situation to happen in any country. People really needed support, medical services were overwhelmed…
“In winter, one day we had to go to the neighbouring region of Naryn. Our task was to deliver a seriously ill patient from there to Bishkek. It was very tough, two days without sleep.
“I began to appreciate more the time spent with my family. Far from home, you miss your family a lot. You want to see everyone, but you cannot. Because you are afraid to infect them. My family considered me a hero, as if I were at the frontline and fought. They were afraid for me. They were afraid that something might happen to me, but at the same time they were proud of me.
“I am proud that at such a difficult moment for the country and the whole world, I have been able to somehow help. I am happy that I have helped save people’s lives. Our patients are also someone’s mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers.
“People should remember that the virus can infect anyone, anywhere. It has not disappeared and won’t disappear soon. It is still with us. Do not think that it will not affect you simply because you are young and because you are not like others. Do not risk your only life and the lives of those close to you. Take precautions and everything will be fine!”
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Europe have reached nearly 100 million people with health and hygiene promotion activities. They have also provided food and other material aid to more than 14 million, cash or voucher assistance to almost 3 million, psychosocial support to almost 2 million, and vaccination support to 3.5 million.
With this health emergency far from over and its socio-economic impacts taking a devastating toll on the most vulnerable, the work of Farouk, Miguel, Rebeka and Arlen is now more important than ever. Like them, 2 million volunteers in Europe are devoting their time, energy and skills to help people in need, through the world’s largest humanitarian network of 192 National Red Cross and Red Crescent societies that make up the IFRC. Yet, more resources are needed to ensure nobody is left behind.
Photo credits: Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spanish Red Cross, Hungarian Red Cross and Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent
By Ainhoa Larrea, COVID-19 Communications Coordinator at IFRC’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia
