(photo credits from: facebook.com/NUSRedCross)
Sambhrama Somashekhar, President of The Red Cross Youth (NUS Chapter) shares her insight on volunteering through The Red Cross Youth:
What are the niche areas of the Red Cross Youth NUS Chapter?
Other than local and overseas Community Involvement Projects, the Red Cross Youth (NUS Chapter) specialises in Disaster management and Blood Donation and Donor Recruitment.
Disaster management is something that is very unique to Red Cross. The vision of our Disaster Management Group is to cultivate a Disaster-Prepared community in NUS campus. To achieve the vision, they provide free Standard First Aid training to their members and conduct First Aid Familiarisation Workshops for NUS students. They also provide first aid coverage to many NUS events like the Career fair, Matriculation fair, Camps, Concerts and so many more. They actively provide community first aid as well under a project called ‘ First Aider on Wheels’. It is a weekly programme at East Coast Park that sees the first aiders of Singapore Red Cross’s patrolling the park to render first aid to anyone who needs it. Since the start of this programme in February 2012, their team of first aiders have tended to more than 1000 casualties, ranging from light injuries such as abrasions to fractures and jellyfish stings.
Blood Donation and Donor Recruitment (BDDR) is another niche area in the Red Cross Youth (NUS Chapter). The Singapore Red Cross was appointed the role of the National Blood Donor Recruiter in 2001 to work in partnership with the Blood Services Group of the Health Sciences Authority to ensure an adequate supply of safe blood to meet the daily transfusion needs of all hospitals in Singapore. The Singapore Red Cross and the Blood Services Group of the Health Sciences Authority are partners in the National Blood Programme. Their present BDDR team is currently working closely with other halls and societies to ensure that there is a smooth flow in the publicity of the event in order to promote awareness about the benefits of blood donation. They will be holding a blood drive from the 3rd to 5th September 2013. Do help to spread the word!
What are the various volunteering opportunities Red Cross Youth (NUS Chapter) provides and what can freshmen expect from Red Cross Youth?
Some of the many projects that students can look forward to participating includes:
Overseas Community Involvement Projects: NUS Red Cross is responsible for organizing humanitarian missions locally in Singapore for several beneficiaries of different sectors during term as well as reaching out to foreign regions such as Myanmar and Cambodia. This December, they will be sending their team to Maparat, Compostela Valley and the Philippines. Category 5 Typhoon Bopha was formed on 25 September 2012 and dissipated on 9 December 2012. Their team will therefore be helping to reconstructing the homes of those affected.
Project SMILES: A regular volunteering programme, through which they hope to bring smiles not only to the beneficiaries’ faces but also to the beloved volunteers as well. They visit the Red Cross Home for the Disabled (RCHD) every alternate Saturday to interact with the residents. Some activities include showering them and interacting with them through games and handicrafts.
7 Days of Happiness: “The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up”, said Mark Twain. More often than not, we tend to underestimate the power of a simple act of kindness to bring joy into someone else’s life. Through this project, they hope to encourage people to appreciate each other and be kind to one another. This is a fun project that sees free Hi-5s being given out, motivational quotes being hung around campus, and gifts being presented to show appreciation to the unsung heroes of NUS like the bus drivers, canteen cleaners and others who may appear less significant in society.
First Aid Training, seminars and coverage: The Standard First Aid comprises of an in-depth approach to performing critical emergency interventions while equipping participants with the practical and theoretical skills to perform effective CPR on adult victims. Participants will learn how to react accordingly in various emergency situations, while maintaining self-confidence, composure and assurance to others.
Blood Donation Drive: A 4 Day blood drive, one of the largest and longest in campus, is religiously organized by the NUS chapter every semester to meet the steadily growing demand of blood in Singapore. It aims to recruit first time donors and provide a convenient avenue for regular donors.
For more information on Red Cross Youth (NUS Chapter), you can also visit the following websites:
http://www.nussu.org.sg/openday/student-life/clubs-and-societies?id=79
https://sites.google.com/site/rcynus/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Cross-Youth-NUS-Chapter/582201371796505