How Red Crescent volunteers eased the suffering of homebound people

An elderly woman limped into the Kamalapur Railway station. It was Saturday (6 April) noon and she was going to Rajshahi with her son on Eid vacation. 

Abdul Aziz Naqeeb, a Red Crescent volunteer, was waiting nearby with a wheelchair, alongside some of his fellow volunteers. One of his colleagues pointed to the elderly woman whose foot was injured. They immediately ran to her assistance. 

"We saw her wound leaking, possibly because she had diabetes. So, we dressed her wound, cleaned it and wrapped it with fresh bandages," Naqeeb said. 

Meanwhile her Rajshahi-bound train was about to leave the station. Naqeeb carried her on the wheelchair and helped her board the train. 

"The woman called me 'baba' (son), and said, 'We can manage to move around easily because of people like you'. She thanked me for our help," he told The Business Standard. 

When such sincere help pours in, sometimes the passengers get emotional and offer them money. They always refuse, of course. 

"I feel really good about it because when you help a common person like this, it gives you peace. And I work as a volunteer for this mental peace," he replied. 

Naqeeb had been giving this service with six other Red Crescent volunteers in the Kamalapur Railway station and the nearby areas from 4 April to 7 April — days which faced a peak rush of homebound passengers due to the Eid vacation. 

A fourth-year student of English at Dhaka College, Naqeeb himself, however, will not go to his hometown this Eid as he lives with his family in the capital's Khilgaon area.

"We conduct our volunteer work on behalf of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. As part of that, we have been working in the Kamalapur Railway station and nearby areas for public awareness and assistance activities," he said. 

"We assist people with directions, information about trains, their platforms, train arrival and departure times, etc. We warn them about maintaining a safe distance from approaching trains," he added. 

Ali Ahmed, a geography and environment student of Dhaka College, was another volunteer working at Karwan Bazar's SAARC Fountain point. 

"We helped traffic police. Through megaphone announcements, we spread awareness about traffic rules, urged bikers not to speed, and we also distributed leaflets. We gave information to passengers on directions and helped them cross roads," he said. 

Maruf Ahmed Sagor, a student of Uttara Polytechnic Institute, was the Mohakhali spot leader for the volunteer project in the area. 

On Sunday, city corporation workers had poured water on the roads to combat dust pollution. A biker somehow slipped and fell over and injured his hand.  

"We gave him first aid and cleaned his wound," Maruf said. 

Sharafath-E-Alam, project officer at the Youth and Volunteers Department of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and in-charge of the Saving Life on the Road project, said they had appointed five teams in key points: Gabtoli, Kamalapur, Sayedabad, Mohakhali, and Karwan Bazar. 

"Suppose some homebound passenger gets high blood pressure or suffers from small injuries, our teams were there to support them. They assisted children, women, and individuals with physical disabilities and helped them board the trains and buses comfortably," Sharafat said. 

Additionally, they provided their contact number on Facebook as well, informing passengers beforehand that the volunteers would be available at these locations on those days, so that they could call the volunteers for help.  

Sharafat said their main objective with this project is to help the government formulate a road safety law. 

"We work on road safety in Bangladesh. The main objective of the road safety project as per SDGs is that by 2030, deaths from road accidents should be lowered by 50%. Bangladesh, so far, does not have a road safety law. There is the Road Transport Act 2018, but it is not a road safety law. Our main target is facilitating the implementation of a road safety law in Bangladesh," Alam added.