"Voluntary Service" is one of the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross Movement._ In particular, the Red Cross Movement is a voluntary service that does not seek rewards through any channels. "Voluntary Service" is also one of the primary motivations behind the Red Cross Movement, as Red Cross/Red Crescent is currently the largest voluntary organization in the world in terms of the number of volunteers._ As Red Cross leaders and staff commit their time, energy and effort to the movement, they are united in their belief in the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross, while seeking to prevent and alleviate human suffering, to protect the lives, health and dignity of human beings, and to foster communication, friendship and co-operation among people.

Everyone is welcome to become a volunteer of Macau Red Cross; as long as you are passionate, energetic, trustworthy, and are ready to commit your time.

As a volunteer of Macau Red Cross, you are able to :

¡@¡EAdd meaning and value to your daily life

¡@¡EReceive specialized skills training

¡@¡EDevelop friendship with other members

¡@¡EAchieve a sense of pride and accomplishment from your voluntary work!

Since its inception and its early efforts to assist the vulnerable group, Macau Red Cross has developed a wide range of programs including emergency medical care, dissemination and promotion of disaster preparedness and relief, Red Cross Movement and International Humanitarian Law, tracing service, community service, etc.

In order to relieve stress from the local emergency medical service, Macau Red Cross, with support from the Macau Government, initiated a new Medical Transfer Service to transport the aged, weak patients and handicapped persons to and from hospitals, clinics and their residences.

All personnel have been specially trained in Macau and overseas respectively and they are required to pass qualification tests before joining the service._ The medical transfer buses are equipped with bed and seat-rests, and some have access for wheelchairs.

Macau Red Cross is particularly concerned for the importance of sanitation and disinfection, all personnel, vehicles and equipments are sterilized under the strictest protocols after each transport cycle._ This is to ensure the highest level of sanitation, and to prevent any possible cross-contamination._ The base of the Medical Transfer Service is located at Avenida da República No.58-60.

Since 1994, disaster preparedness and relief has been a crucial area of work for the Macau Red Cross._ It was introduced to offer financial support to the International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent societies and Red Cross Society of China for their work in relieving serious disaster afflicted areas in Mainland China and around the world._ Macau Red Cross has also rallied the Macau community for monetary donations as well as material goods to support the disaster-relief efforts.

In recent years, the Macau Red Cross has participated in numerous worldwide disaster-relief operations, including: the 1996 Earthquake in Yunnan Province, China; the 1998 Floods in Central China; the 1999 Earthquake in Taiwan; the 2000 Armed Conflicts in Kosovo; the 2002 Floods in Eastern China; the 2003 Floods along the Wai River, China; the 2004 Floods in China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami; the 2006 Earthquake in Jawa Tengah province, Indonesia; the 2007 Puer Earthquake in Yunnan province, China; the 2008 Blizzard Disaster in China and the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan province of China.  In 2010, we also responded actively to the disaster-relief operations in the typhoon in Taiwan, the Haiti earthquake, the drought in south-west region and the Qinghai earthquake of China.

Following the principles of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement to prevent and alleviate human suffering, and in order to better promote the Red Cross's humanitarian and caring spirit, Macau Red Cross founded a Disaster-Relief Fund in 2001._ This fund has since allowed us to provide immediate response to disasters, while improving our programs of disaster relief and preparation and post-relief reconstruction.

Macau Red Cross Emergency First Aid Service primarily serves in the government's civil-defense programs._ It also provides on-site professional first aid services for activities held by the government, community organizations and individuals._ The service is rendered by experienced voluntary personnel who have been trained at the Macau Red Cross School, and is usually available only on weekends and public holidays.

Composed of members of the Macau Red Cross First-Aid Voluntary Service, the Civil-Defense Service is mainly responsible for disaster-relief and rescue operations._ Brought to a stand-by mode during typhoons, natural disasters and/or catastrophic accidents, the service, as directed by the Macau Government, shall dispatch volunteers to assist in search and rescue operations within the territory of Macau.

In order to protect the vulnerable group in Macau's rapidly growing society, and to accomplish our mission of "seeking to prevent and alleviate human suffering, to protect the lives, health and dignity of human beings", Macau Red Cross has endeavored to develop the needs and direction of its community services._ Numerous trained volunteers have provided services for home visits, residence care and patient transports, etc to the needy in Macau.

Founded in 2004, Macau Red Cross Medical Voluntary Service, a branch of our community voluntary service, is composed of a group of active duty doctors, nurses, nursing and medical school students._ Their primary role, namely the "Elderly Care Health Service", is to provide blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and fats content measurements for the elderly in different parks across Macau under varying schedules.¡@In addition, the Medical Voluntary Service also holds joint talks with other community service organizations to promote health knowledge.

As today's youth grow to become tomorrow's masters, fostering responsible citizenship amongst youth also becomes more crucial for society's future wellbeing._ Therefore, Macau Red Cross puts heavy emphasis upon its "Youth Development" programs._ With donations from generous individuals and organizations, we have established the "Red Cross Youth Development Foundation" to fund various projects and activities associated with youth development.

Conforming to our regard for the importance of physical and mental development amongst youth, Macau Red Cross frequently holds dynamic and diversified youth activities to promote the spirit of the Red Cross Movement._ Past activities include coloring and drawing competitions for youth and child patients at the two Macau hospitals, "Spring Bud Cup" National Youth Writing Competition (co-organizer) and the Caring Chest Story Recital Contest (co-organizer)._ Furthermore, we also hold regular activities, including specialized brainstorming sessions, festival celebrations and health/first aid talks with other youth organizations._ Through these activities, Macau Red Cross wishes to convey to the youth the importance of providing assistance to the needy in the community.

Meanwhile, youth representatives of Macau Red Cross regularly participate in exchanges with their foreign peers to broaden their international outlook._ Past exchanges include the International Poster Design Competition held by the Korea Red Cross, the International Youth Exchange Camp held by the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Hong Kong/Macau/Shenzhen/Guangzhou Red Cross Youth Exchange Camp, and the Rainforest Exchange Camp held by the Malaysia Red Crescent Society.

The Youth Uniformed Group forms a major component of youth development program of Macau Red Cross._ Members have to go through a series of lectures and rigorous training on moral, mental, physical, teamwork, aesthetic development and including the promotion of knowledge of the Red Cross Movement._ After completing such sessions, it is hoped that they would utilize the skills and experiences necessary for their development into potential elites of society.

Teenagers willing to serve the community and learn from the experience are welcome to join the Red Cross Youth Uniformed Group. New members shall receive short-term training and undergo a qualifying examination before officially accepted.

Features of the Youth Uniformed Group:

¡DBecome acquainted with first aid skills through training and practice sessions.
¡DLearn about rescue operations by absorbing knowledge in the area of disaster preparedness and relief._ Stimulate individual potential in the course of adventure programs.
¡DBroaden international outlook through overseas exchanges.

A part from the scheduled courses, members may apply their classroom knowledge during community service sessions._ They also have the chance to extend their experiences with overseas exchanges.

Since 1993, Macau Red Cross has steadfastly embarked on its mission to promote the International Humanitarian Law in Macau, Mainland China and Southeast Asia._ We have also participated in similar efforts headed by the Red Cross Society of China since 1998, while holding numerous joint district seminars in Macau with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies._ The topics of our seminar include the International Humanitarian Law, the usage of the Red Cross symbol, the humanitarian spirit of the Red Cross Movement, the seven fundamental principles, and how the work of Red Cross seeks to encourage the protection of human dignity, to foster communication, friendship and co-operation between human beings, eventually leading to lasting world peace.

Adhering to our fundamental principle of "Universality", everyone is welcome to become a member of the Macau Red Cross._ There are two main types of membership: individual and group, and they can further be categorized into youth membership, active membership, benefactor membership and honorary membership.

Support from the members is crucial to the operations of the Macau Red Cross._ Besides the membership fees constitute a source of the organization's operation funds, members' active involvement also represents their recognition of our "Humanitarian" spirit._ Members are welcome to contribute to the Macau Red Cross in such roles as promotion and communication.

As the Red Cross Movement's "Humanitarian" and "Voluntary Service" principles were founded on the battlefields of Solferino in 1859, the founder of the movement, Jean-Henri Dunant, rallied the villagers of nearby Castiglione Del Stiviere to provide medical aid to the injured soldiers._ At the same time, he also began to assist in re-establishing communications between the soldiers and their lost families._ Since then, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies throughout the world have utilized the Movement's international network to unify families separated by natural disasters and armed conflicts.

Macau Red Cross started the tracing service in early 1950's._ When the civil war broke out in East Timor in 1975, and the outbreak of displacement in Vietnam in both 1979 and 1980, Macau Red Cross offered tracing service for those refugees who fled to Macau._ With the intensive network of International Red Cross Movement and the aid of the International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC), Macau Red Cross helped these refugees to locate their lost relatives and reunion with their families._ In the 70's and 80's, most requests came from the East Timor, Vietnam refugees and the Cambodian Chinese._ In recent years, Macau Red Cross has been dealing with cases from the residents in Mainland China.

Mission : Adhering to our humanitarian spirit, the Macau Red Cross assists families separated by war or natural disasters to unify with their lost relatives.

Service requirements: 

1. The applicant OR the person sought must reside in Macau
2. Both sides must be from the immediate family (i.e. parents, offspring, couple, siblings, etc)
3. The applicant must provide some basic details of the person sought (i.e. name, nationality, age, last known address, etc)
4. The applicant must complete all required forms

Fee: The Tracing Service is offered free of charge.

Thanks to the generosity of the Macau community, the Macau Red Cross has been co-operating with the Red Cross Society of China in building numerous Red Cross fraternity primary schools in areas seriously affected by natural disasters and in remote and poor regions in mainland China._ Through this program, Macau Red Cross hopes to provide opportunities for the displaced children going back to their classrooms.

The Red Cross Movement is truly international - the numerous co-operated conferences, exchange programs and professional development workshops have allowed Red Cross leaders, specialists and volunteers to share their expertise and experience with their counterparts from around the world._ These sessions also provide participants with opportunities to become more knowledgeable with the current programs of worldwide Red Cross societies while helping to develop such regional networks as disaster preparedness and relief networks, the Red Cross international youth network and the resource and information networks._ The Macau Red Cross frequently participates in international, Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asian Red Cross programs, seminars and training._ These activities span from topics about volunteering development and training, youth exchange program, health and sanitation, information dissemination, disaster relief to areas concerning the recruitment of administrative personnel and the promotion of the International Humanitarian Law._ In the meantime, we also seek to co-operate with fellow societies to develop joint-schemes for community welfare.