A small child stretches his head through the door of the house and sees an old man trying to cross the street, he rushes to help him, hears words of thanks, and sees looks of contentment, he is overwhelmed with joy when he provides help to any human or animal, the feelings of joy and overwhelming happiness that a person feels when he is the cause of overcoming difficulties in front of those with special needs or conditions or when he participates in a voluntary project that serves his country and members of his community.

Since his boyhood, the mentioned – above small guy has been gravitating toward voluntary activity, he lived near one of the Iraqi Red Crescent’s offices, he accompanied his father, who was a member of the Iraqi Red Crescent’s relief teams and wanted to take part in the delivery of humanitarian aid with him, the small guy developed a passion for assisting others and was constantly thinking of new ways to do so.

The small boy’s desire to help others led him to join with the Iraqi Red Crescent in 2006, when he was one of the youngest volunteers. Haider Al-Nouri (29 years old) claims that as a result of the country’s unstable conditions, he has had various daily experiences; the challenges were numerous during times of explosions, and he was extremely close to several of them, he also helped to save the lives of others especially in Mosul and Anbar governorates.

The volunteers have a key role in performing the tasks of the IRCS and they need renewal and development with modern methods aimed to increase their performance and to refine their skills. In the latest statistics, the number of Iraqi Red Crescent volunteers reached more than 12 thousand volunteers of both sexes, the Iraqi Red Crescent provides equal opportunities for volunteers to demonstrate their energies in the field of providing humanitarian services and enables them to enhance their psychological and social capabilities as citizens and contributors to the development of their community.

Haider AlNouri has developed his experiences and skills by participating in many courses until he was nominated as the youngest trainer in one of the first aid workshops. He says: “I discovered that my experience in volunteer and relief work was simple and needed development, so I started developing myself and entered first aid courses, flood risks, and war remnants, psychosocial support, and many health programs such as the first responder program, and after gaining a good amount of experience, I started providing training and lectures for new volunteers.”

The Iraqi Red Crescent Society organizes training programs for volunteers and employees to train them in various fields, including international humanitarian law, relief work, and how to act during natural and unnatural disasters, as training has an effective and significant role in developing the individual’s performance and increasing his capabilities during his relief work.

Haider says: My experience in the Iraqi Red Crescent was a lesson to me and others, and I find my way of thinking and my way of life has changed from what it was before engaging in volunteer work, the difference has become very big.

The basic laws that Haider worked on in the Red Crescent applied in his daily life, some people differ in orientation, religion, and nationalism with them, but the terms of volunteer work emphasize neutrality and not deal with any special feelings, and many of those who contributed to saving their lives did not pay attention to anything other than humanitarian work, so what He still feels proud and satisfied with himself, for there are those who find happiness and comfort in money, travel, etc., but he finds it in providing service to people and in the looks of thanks and gratitude in their eyes.