Introduction
UAE Red Crescent Authority is a nonprofit organization operating in the country for approximately forty years, and that helps address humanitarian crises. This institution is a part of the global Red Cross/Red Crescent organization. In times of peace and war, the Emirates Red Crescent is a volunteer humanitarian group that assists governmental authorities. It began on January 31, 1983, and in 1986, it was officially recognized as a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (UAE Red Crescent Organization, n.d.). The two participants of this interview are both connected to the UAE Red Crescent organization. One is a current employee who used to work closely with volunteers, while the other is a former volunteer who no longer cooperates with this organization. This paper will summarize the interviews with two people from UAE Red Crescent Authority, one of the members of the administrative staff and a former volunteer at this organization.
Interview I
Although UAE Red Crescent is a nonprofit organization, it employs a few people who dedicate their time daily to managing the projects and ensuring that the institution’s funds and work are effective. One of the employees from Red Crescent was found on LinkedIn through the search feature, and the interview was conducted through the website’s messaging feature. In order to preserve the anonymity of the interview, in the following paragraphs, she will be referred to as FS.
FS has worked with this nonprofit organization for over eight years, which means that she has a good knowledge of the internal processes and issues that this nonprofit faces. Her main occupation at the moment is cooperation with the volunteers; however, previously, she was working in the marketing department, helping produce video material and other products that highlighted the achievements of the UAE Red Crescent Authority. Due to the fact that FS is a full-time employee and considering the time she has spent working for this institution, one can argue that her interview provides good insight into the work of this institution.
The main disruption in the work of this institution was the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the interviewee. Although currently, this organization supports the efforts targeting the vaccination of the citizens, during the first months of this outbreak, the organization’s leaders had to put on hold many of the projects to ensure that the volunteers, employees, and people who are receiving humanitarian aid are safe. Moreover, the UAE Red Crescent Authority has helped the state with facilitating the vaccinations process and obtaining the medications to address this pandemic. However, FS states that there were many issues when the outbreak of COVID-19 first happened, and some of the volunteers decided to stop helping the organization for some time. This created a substantial workforce constraint since the Red Crescent Authority relies greatly on the help of these volunteers and does not have employees who would be able to substitute the number of volunteers that the organization works with.
The HR department and all employees working with volunteers had to put in additional effort to ensure that a sufficient number of individuals is cooperating with the organization, according to FS. Even now, when the vaccination efforts are allowed to mitigate some of the detrimental effects of COVID-19, the organization does not have as many volunteers as it did before. Hence, the current efforts of the leadership are dedicated to raising more awareness about the UAE Red Crescent and ensuring that this organization can return to the volume of work it has had previously.
Another issue the FS mentioned was that not all projects were renewed after the pandemic, as some had to be halted to ensure that all participants were safe. Some of these are still in the process of renewal, while others were postponed indefinitely, which is FS’s concern. In part, this means that the organization does not require as much volunteer work as it did before. However, FS hopes that all of the projects that were started before the pandemic will be renewed soon.
Interview II
The second interviewee is a former volunteer at the UAE Red Crescent Authority who is currently a student. This interview also took place online through Facebook’s messaging system, and the participant took her time to disclose some of the issues that caused her to stop volunteering. To ensure that the anonymity of the subject is preserved, she will be referred to as AS in the following paragraphs. AS disclosed that she had been helping this humanitarian organization for approximately six months prior to stopping the cooperation.
AS was recruited through her university, and she decided to become a volunteer since some of her friends and other college students have been working with the Red Crescent Authority. Hence, she filled out the form on the website and was contacted shortly after to participate in some activities with this institution. In general, AS describes her experience with this organization as pleasant, as she was able to help on several occasions. Moreover, she especially praised the UAE Red Cross’s website for volunteers, which is an online platform where one can access activities, sign up for events, and view some important details about the work.
When asked why AS left her volunteering work, she responded that she was concerned about time constraints, as she had to both study at a university and participate in various activities or projects at the Red Crescent. Moreover, at one point, AS became concerned as she could not manage effectively both her work at the institution and her studies, due to which she fell behind on one of the subjects she was studying. Hence, she had to make a decision and prioritize, which as a result, caused her to leave the organization for some time.
AS mentioned that she intends on returning to Red Crescent once she graduates and finds her first job, or perhaps if she finds a way to manage her time more efficiently. AS also mentioned that she enjoyed using the organization’s online platform for volunteers, which helped her manage some of the activities she participated in. Still, time management appeared to be a serious concern.
When asked about the effect of COVID-19 on her volunteering while AS was still helping Red Crescent, she replied that she did not feel the effect of the pandemic. However, during the time when the outbreak began AS made a decision to halt her volunteering work, and therefore, she might not have experienced the full effect of this global problem. She mentioned that some general precautions were taken by the manager of the volunteers, such as obligatory masks and gloves; however, these were the requirements of most institutions at that time. In general, AS has provided pleasant feedback for the UAE Red Crescent Authority and voiced her hope to return to the volunteering work soon.
Conclusion
In summary, this paper is a summary of the two interviews that were conducted to gain insight into the work of the UAE’s Red Crescent organization. The first interview is with a member of the administrative staff who often works with people who volunteer with the UAE Red Crescent Authority. FS has mainly worked with adults who are no longer in college but want to volunteer. The participant was found through the LinkedIn platform, and the interview was performed online. The main concerns she raised were the declining number of volunteers after the emergence of COVID-19 was initially reported. Furthermore, the COVID-19 epidemic has made it hard to develop and support any real-world activities, and several programs have had to be halted to ensure the safety of volunteers and other participants. As a result, the organization is still having difficulty recruiting a sufficient number of volunteers.
The second interview was with one of the former UAE Red Crescent Authority volunteers who devoted her time to the organization’s activities. The interview was conducted online via Facebook’s messaging system, and the interviewee was asked ten questions in total. Since she was a college student who found it difficult to manage her schoolwork and volunteering activities, the biggest challenge she faced when working with a volunteer organization was a lack of time. Second, the activities were time-consuming, and she had no idea how to efficiently manage her time so that she could volunteer and study at the same time. AS mentioned that once she graduates and finds a job, she intends to return to helping this nonprofit.
Reference
UAE Red Crescent Organization. (n.d.). Web.